{"id":53720,"date":"2025-11-10T09:26:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T02:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oucru.org\/?p=53720"},"modified":"2025-11-10T11:01:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T04:01:19","slug":"oucru-awarded-wellcome-discovery-award-grant-to-advance-tuberculosis-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/2025\/11\/10\/oucru-awarded-wellcome-discovery-award-grant-to-advance-tuberculosis-research\/","title":{"rendered":"OUCRU awarded prestigious Wellcome Discovery Awards grant to advance tuberculosis research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s deadliest infectious diseases. In 2023, there were about 10.8 million people who got sick with TB and around 1.25 million who died from it. Vietnam continues to be among the countries with high number of TB, with about 182,000 new TB cases (182 per 100,000 population) reported in 2023. (WHO Global TB Report 2024)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oucru.org\/people\/nguyen-thuy-thuong-thuong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Associate\u00e2\u20ac\u00afProfessor Nguy\u00e1\u00bb\u2026n Th\u00e1\u00bb\u00a5y Th\u00c6\u00b0\u00c6\u00a1ng Th\u00c6\u00b0\u00c6\u00a1ng<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oucru.org\/people\/le-thanh-hoang-nhat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr L\u00c3\u00aa Thanh Ho\u00c3\u00a0ng Nh\u00e1\u00ba\u00adt<\/a>, and colleagues at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ox.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">University of Oxford<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crick.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Francis Crick Institute (UK)<\/a>, this research is among the first to investigate the\u00e2\u20ac\u00afmolecular determinants of pathogenesis and treatment outcome\u00e2\u20ac\u00afin both pulmonary and meningeal TB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over six years, the study will follow more than\u00e2\u20ac\u00af3,500 patients\u00e2\u20ac\u00afin Vietnam, combining clinical data, laboratory results, and biological samples collected over time. Using state-of-the-art technologies &#8211; including\u00e2\u20ac\u00afmulti-omics, single-cell genomics, and cell infection models -scientists will investigate how genetic and immune factors shape the course of TB.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The research will focus on three key areas:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bacterial burden and treatment response&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mechanisms driving TBM deaths and survivorship&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The role of dexamethasone in TBM outcomes\u00c2\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through these investigations, the team aims to identify\u00c2\u00a0new biomarkers for treatment monitoring\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0novel targets for host-directed therapies. In parallel, they will develop a\u00c2\u00a0comprehensive, integrated database, providing a\u00c2\u00a0vital resource for future systems biology and precision medicine research in tuberculosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oucru.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP-Thuong-and-Dr-Nhat-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.oucru.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP-Thuong-and-Dr-Nhat-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-53725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP-Thuong-and-Dr-Nhat-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP-Thuong-and-Dr-Nhat-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP-Thuong-and-Dr-Nhat-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP-Thuong-and-Dr-Nhat-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP-Thuong-and-Dr-Nhat-2048x1151.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Assoc Prof Nguy\u00e1\u00bb\u2026n Th\u00e1\u00bb\u00a5y Th\u00c6\u00b0\u00c6\u00a1ng Th\u00c6\u00b0\u00c6\u00a1ng and Dr L\u00c3\u00aa Thanh Ho\u00c3\u00a0ng Nh\u00e1\u00ba\u00adt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153With this award, we can bring the latest scientific innovations to address a long-standing global health challenge. Understanding how disease and recovery work at the molecular level will help us monitor treatment more effectively and develop more precisely targeted therapies,&#8221;<\/em> said Assoc Prof Nguy\u00e1\u00bb\u2026n Th\u00e1\u00bb\u00a5y Th\u00c6\u00b0\u00c6\u00a1ng Th\u00c6\u00b0\u00c6\u00a1ng, Head of Tuberculosis Research Group, OUCRU.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This project builds on over two decades of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oucru.org\/research\/tuberculosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TB research in Vietnam<\/a>, where OUCRU scientists have worked closely with local hospitals and health authorities to improve diagnosis, treatment, and patient care. This strong foundation of clinical studies, laboratory research, and international collaboration has positioned OUCRU as a global leader in TB and\u00e2\u20ac\u00aftuberculous meningitis research.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supported by the\u00e2\u20ac\u00af<a href=\"https:\/\/wellcome.org\/research-funding\/schemes\/wellcome-discovery-awards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wellcome Discovery Award<\/a>, a prestigious scheme that funds bold and creative ideas\u00e2\u20ac\u00afwith the potential to transform human health, this achievement marks a major step forward in OUCRU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mission to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases in Vietnam and across the region.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Tuberculosis research team at OUCRU\u00e2\u20ac\u00afhas received a \u00c2\u00a33.8 million grant to investigate why some people with tuberculosis respond better to treatment than others; and how to improve survival from its deadliest form,\u00e2\u20ac\u00aftuberculous meningitis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":20648,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,144],"tags":[116],"class_list":["post-53720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-ho-chi-minh","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53720"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53784,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53720\/revisions\/53784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}