New International Research Project on Tuberculosis-Associated Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis

Dr Natalie Nieuwenhuizen from the Medical Mycology research group (AG Kurzai) has secured funding from the CMM International Fund for Global Advancement of Medical Mycology. The seed grant will support a new collaborative project analysing T cell responses in patients affected by Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis (CPA).

CPA is a devastating, often fatal complication that manifests within the first years following tuberculosis (TB) treatment in 10-15% of patients. While structural lung damage provides an ideal environment for the Aspergillus fungus to colonise, the underlying immune mechanisms remain poorly understood. Furthermore, co-infections with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Aspergillus can occur, which are difficult to treat due to drug interactions. Due to similar clinical manifestations, CPA is often misdiagnosed as recurrent TB.

To tackle this challenge, Dr Nieuwenhuizen has joined forces with two international co-applicants: Dr Claire Hoving (University of Cape Town, South Africa) and Dr David Koffi (Pasteur Institute, Côte d’Ivoire). Their joint project, "Immune modulation in tuberculosis-associated Aspergillus infections," focuses on how TB alters the immune landscape to allow fungal persistence. The project has been awarded a two-year seed grant by the Centre for Medical Mycology (CMM) at the University of Exeter. This funding is designed to generate the crucial preliminary data required to apply for larger, long-term international research grants.

The collaborative programme is already underway. Dr David Koffi recently visited the Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology in Würzburg to learn the Antigen Reactive T-cell Enrichment (ARTE) assay alongside Dr Nieuwenhuizen. Dr Koffi will now implement this specialised technique at the Pasteur Institute to characterise T cell responses to Aspergillus. By uniting expertise from Germany, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa, the team hopes to pave the way for better clinical management of dual mycobacterial and fungal lung diseases globally.