Institute: Texas Biomedical Research Institute
Biography
Understanding the impact of the human lung mucosa in TB pathogenesis is the research focus for Dr. Torrelles. He and his team have found that there are enzymes in the human lung mucosa that modify the bacteria prior to infecting host cells, thus potentially redefining the Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathway of infection and disease outcome.
Dr. Torrelles and his team currently have a patented TB vaccine candidate, based on a selective biochemical removal of lipids from the bacterium cell wall that mimics the modifications that M. tuberculosis suffers when it gets in contact with the human lung mucosa. This modified vaccine shows significantly greater protection in the mouse model and importantly a significant reduction in lung tissue damage, the hallmark of TB disease. Current studies are being scheduled in the Guinea pig model through the NIH/NIAID TB Vaccine Contract before nonhuman primate studies will begin prior to human pre‐clinical trials. Dr. Torrelles and his team of collaborators also aim to develop a culture‐based test to diagnose multi‐, extensive‐ and extreme‐drug resistant TB.
He is working with partners on four continents to test this diagnostic approach. The hope is to reduce the current 56‐80 days needed to determine TB drug susceptibility patterns to only 14 days or less, which will allow better therapies and reduce transmission.
Key Publications
A list of publications can be found here.
Web Links of Interest