# Transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis in a South African city with a high prevalence of HIV infection

> **NIH NIH K08** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2021 · $38,329

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This application is for a K08 award for Rebecca Berhanu MD, an Instructor at Boston University’s Department of
Global Health in the School of Public Health, who is training to become an independent investigator in the field
of molecular epidemiology and tuberculosis (TB) transmission research. TB is the leading infectious cause of
death globally and the number one cause of death amongst people with HIV. The identification of recent TB
transmission clusters by whole genome sequencing (WGS) methods offers unique insight into transmission
patterns which cannot be obtained through traditional contact tracing.
The overall research objective is to use WGS coupled with molecular clock, phylogenic and transmission cluster
analysis to characterize transmission of rifampin and multi-drug resistant (RR/MDR) TB in Johannesburg, South
Africa. The aims of the study are to: 1) Use WGS data to calculate the molecular clock of RR/MDR-TB, 2) Use
single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based cluster analysis and Bayesian transmission analysis to identify
recent TB transmission clusters or RR/MDR-TB, and evaluate the impact of HIV status, CD4 count and
antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the likelihood of transmitting TB and 3) Determine if WGS transmission cluster
identification augmented with demographic and social-network data can identify non-household locations of
recent RR/MDR-TB transmission.
Dr. Berhanu will receive mentorship from a team of inter-disciplinary experts in TB epidemiology, bioinformatics
and TB genomics. Her primary mentor, Dr Horsburgh, is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Boston
University and has over 30 years’ experience in TB clinical and translational research. Her co-primary mentor,
Dr. Karen Jacobson, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University, is an expert in TB epidemiology
in high-burden settings and has worked extensively in South Africa using TB molecular data. Dr. Berhanu’s
Advisory Board includes Dr. Maha Farhat, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Information
at
Harvard University,
who has published extensively on resistance mutation characterization and markers of recent transmission using
TB genomic data; Dr. Nazir Ismail, head of the Centre for Tuberculosis of the NICD in Johannesburg, is an expert
in TB molecular epidemiology, and Dr. Evan Johnson, Associate Professor of Medicine and Biostatistics at
Boston University, with expertise in bioinformatics methodology. Dr. Berhanu’s training plan links to the proposed
research aims: establish a solid foundation in epidemiology; and develop new skills in bioinformatics,
phylogenetics and transmission analysis using WGS data. Training will be accomplished through a combination
of didactic courses, workshops, and practicums in South Africa and Boston. These training and research
activities will allow Dr. Berhanu to mature into an independent investigator and provide a basis for an R01 using
molecular and social network data to identify transmission hot...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10228751
- **Project number:** 5K08AI150352-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Rebecca Hafkin Berhanu
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $38,329
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-04 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10228751

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10228751, Transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis in a South African city with a high prevalence of HIV infection (5K08AI150352-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10228751. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*