Overview

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is spread through the air when people who have the disease cough, sneeze, or spit. Most contagions in humans result in a latent infection, and about a 10% of them eventually progress to active disease, which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of its victims.

TB is probably the most prevalent infectious disease in the world. Still now, it remains a major cause of illness and death in many countries and a major public health problem worldwide. In 2009, there were more than 10 million cases of TB, 1.3 million deaths among HIV-negative people and 0.38 million deaths among HIV-positive people. Nowadays, one third of the world population is affected by the latent infection, as published by the World Health Organization (WHO. www.who.int/).

In Spain 1 of every 3000 inhabitants suffer active TB. This rate has risen considerably in recent years. The migration from countries with high endemicity of TB and the living conditions of these immigrants have increased TB in many European Union countries in recent years, which may have affected epidemiology of TB in native people.

We are working on a multidisciplinary and multiscale approach to tuberculosis, covering different pending issues from the cell level to the epidemiological one:

External collaborators:

We are part of a multidisciplinary research team, together with:

Dr. Pere-Joan Cardona, Unitat de Tuberculosi Experimental (UTE), Institut per a la Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona 

Dra. Cristina Vilaplana, Unitat de Tuberculosi Experimental (UTE), Institut per a la Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona 

Dra. Àngels Orcau, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona

Dr. Joan Pau Millet, Agència de Sañut Pública de Barcelona

Dra. Cristina Montañola, IQS, Universitat Ramon Llull / Barcelona Supercomputer Center

Dr. Josep Casanovas, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya / Barcelona Supercomputer Center

Dr. Jordi Bechini, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol

Dra. Montserrat Tenesa, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol

Dr. Ricardo Pérez, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol

Dra. Isabel Nogueira, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol

Publications:

You will find the list of publications here.