Tuberculosis is a pressing global public health problem: one in four people in the world has a latent tuberculosis infection and under certain conditions has a 5 to 10% risk of developing active disease during their lifetime. In 2017, 1,6 million people died from this cause, despite the fact that an effective cure has existed for 70 years. To consolidate strategies that facilitate the success of treatments and limit the spread of the pathology, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from the United States has just awarded a major research grant ( to dr. Fernando Rubinstein, master's degree in Public Health from the University of San Diego (USA) and director of our Education Department, as well as director of the Master's Degree in Clinical Effectiveness at the UBA Faculty of Medicine.
R01 grants represent NIH's original, oldest, and most hierarchical mechanism for funding research projects aligned with the Institutes' mission. And one of the most sought after funds by qualified groups of researchers around the world.
Together with Sarah Iribarren, RN PhD, a nurse at the University of Washington, United States, Dr. Rubinstein is one of the two principal investigators of this initiative to develop, implement and evaluate an interactive mobile application intended to accompany patients, monitor adherence to tuberculosis treatment, and evaluate its impact on clinical outcomes. The platform under study aims to allow health service providers (for example, a tuberculosis nurse) to interact with patients, evaluate their progress and identify those who require additional support. The satisfaction of participating patients with the tool and care will also be explored. The research will take place in centers in the capital and the province of Buenos Aires, where half of the more than 11.000 annual cases registered in Argentina are diagnosed and treated.
It is a great pride for the IECS that Fernando has obtained this distinction and we are convinced that the research will represent a substantial contribution in the fight against this disease.
July 2, 2019