By Katarina A. Lewczyk | Date Published: June 18, 2024

Hardy Kornfeld to Study CD8+ T Cells and Host-Directed TB Therapy with R21 Funding 

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be one of the leading causes of death from infection worldwide, despite the availability of potentially curative antibiotics. Barriers to TB elimination include the need for at least 4-6 months of treatment to achieve a cure, the high prevalence of TB in under-resourced low- and middle-income countries, and the emergence of drug-resistant TB. Of the estimated 150 million TB survivors worldwide, about half have lifelong lung complications as a consequence of pulmonary TB. 

Hardy Kornfeld, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, has received R21 funding from the National Institutes of Health to study, “Unleashing CD8+ T Cells for TB Defense.” In this project, Dr. Kornfeld seeks to identify the mechanism of protection in CD8+ T cells and will perform preclinical studies of NR4A1 antagonists as candidates for host-directed TB therapy. The long-term goal of the project is to translate their discovery into TB therapies. This treatment could enhance antibiotic efficacy, particularly in people with TB and HIV coinfection, and limit the tissue damage that leads to chronic respiratory problems in TB survivors.