1. History of Laboratory collaboration

2. Completed projects 1997-1999 - CRDF, GN1-432 2000-2001-CRDF, GB2-2012
Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of TB in the Republic of Georgia – Emory University, Atlanta, GA,USA
CRDF, GB2-2012
Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of Drug-Resistant TB in Georgia- Emory University, Atlanta, GA,USA 
ISTC/BTEP#12, G-610p –SUCCESS STORY
Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of Drug-Resistant TB in Georgia and the Caucasus- Emory University, Atlanta, GA,USA
BTEP/ISTC A-998
Development of Multiple Drug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) Surveillance and National TB program (NTP) evaluations, Republics of Armenia and Georgia”
2004, August 30 – September 1, - GA-XO-1059-TB-04
Multiple –Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: Epidemiologic, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Research Opportunities
– CRDF # GEX TB06
 Determination of Susceptibility to some second-line drugs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in Georgia –VA Hospital, Syracuse, NY, USA
  CRDF# GEX TB06
Characterization of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Gene Expression Patterns During
Growth in the Human Lung –university of Louisville, KY, USA
–CRDF# GEB TB-07
Role of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) as a Risk Factor for Anti-tuberculosis Drug-induced Hepatic Toxicity- Emory University, Atlanta, GA,USA

3. CRDF Workshop Multiple –Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: Epidemiologic, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Research Opportunities, 2004

4. Proposals submitted form workshop-1
Steroids from some plants of Georgian flora as a potent antimycobacterial agents
Total Amount Requested from CRDF – $100 000
FSU PI- Merlani, Maia; Senior Research Scientist
Kutateladze Institute of Pharmacochemistry, Georgian Academy of Sciences
P. Sarajishvili st. 36, Tbilisi, 0159, Georgia
US PI- Welch, John Thomas; Professor of Chemistry; Dept of Chemistry, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY USA

5. Proposals submitted form workshop-2
Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of Extrapulmonary and Combined TB Cases in Georgia.
Total Amount Requested from CRDF - $99 379
FSU PI – Nana Kiria, Head of Advisory Board of National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases
50 Maruashvili Street, Tbilisi 0101, Georgia
US PI - Barry Kreiswirth, Director, PHRI TB Center
Public Health Research Institute
225 Warren Street, Newark, NJ 07103

6. Proposals submitted form workshop-3
Determination of susceptibility to some second-line drugs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in the Republic of Georgia.
Total Amount Requested from CRDF-$100 000
FSU PI -Vashakidze Lamara, Head of Phthisiology and Pulmonology Chair of the Tbilisi State Medical University at the National Center of TB and Lung Diseases, MD,PH.D, Professor
National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases
50 Maruashvili Street, Tbilisi 0101, Georgia
US PI- Cynamon, Michael, Henry, Professor of Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Chief, Infectious Diseases VAMC Syracuse, New York
Central New York Research Corporation
800 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13210

7. Proposals submitted form workshop-4
TB Phage
Total Amount Requested from CRDF -$99 700
FSU PI- Nonikashvili Marine, Assistant Professor Phthisiology and Pulmonology Chair of the Tbilisi State Medical University at the
National Center of TB and Lung Diseases, MD,PH.D
50 Maruashvili Street, Tbilisi 0101, Georgia
US PI- NATALIA KUREPINA, Senior Scientist, Public Health Research Institute TB Center, International Center for Public Health
225 Warren St, Room W210, Newark, NJ 07103, USA

8. Proposals submitted form workshop-5
Characterization of M.tuberculosis gene expression patterns during growth in the human lung
Total Amount Requested from CRDF - $96539
FSU PI- Sergo Vashakidze, Surgeon Service Coordinator
National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases
50 Maruashvili Street, Tbilisi 0101, Georgia
US PI- Graham, James, E.; Assistant Professor
University of Louisville School of Medicine; Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Health Sciences Ctr. Rm 316
319 Abraham Flexner Way
Louisville, KY

9. Proposals submitted form workshop-6
Role of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) as a Risk Factor for Antituberculosis Drug-induced Hepatotoxicity
Total Amount Requested from CRDF - $100 000
FSU PI- Lali Kupreishvili, Clinical Director
National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases
50 Maruashvili Street, Tbilisi 0101, Georgia
US PI- Henry M.Blumberg; Professor of Medicine and Program Director, Division of Infectious Diseases
Emory University—Division of Infectious Diseases
Atlanta, GA USA

10. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations submitted proposals
     Use of Mycobacterial Bacteriophage for Treatment and Prevention of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
Electrochemical Lysis as a Novel Method of Treatment for Tuberculosis-2009

11. Publications-1
Zalesky R, Abdullajev F, Khechinashvili G, Safarian M, Madaras T, Grzemska M, Englund E, Dittmann S, Raviglione M.
Tuberculosis control in the Caucasus: successes and constraints in DOTS implementation.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis May;3(5):
Weinstock DM, Hahn O, Wittkamp M, Sepkowitz KA, Khechinashvili G, Blumberg HM.
Risk for tuberculosis infection among internally displaced persons in the Republic of Georgia.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis Feb;5(2):164-9.
D. C. Richards, T. Mikiashvili, J. J. Parris, E. V. Kourbatova, J.CE Wilson, N. Shubladze, T. Tertsvadze, G.Khechinashvili, C. del Rio, H. M Blumberg
High Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection but not HIV co-infection among Patients with Tuberculosis in the Republic of Georgia
Int. Journ. TB and Lung Disease, Vol.10, #4, April 2006, pp: (6)
N.Mdivani, E.Zangaladze, N.Volkova, E. Kourbatova, T. Jibuti, N.Shubladze, G.Khechinashvili, C.del Rio, A.Salakaia, and H.M. Blumberg
High Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Georgia
International Journal of Infectious Diseases (2008) 12, 635—644
Kuniholm Mark H; Mark Jennifer; Aladashvili Malvina; Shubladze N; Khechinashvili G; Tsertsvadze Tengiz; del Rio Carlos; Nelson Kenrad E
Risk factors and algorithms to identify hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV among Georgian tuberculosis patients.
International journal of infectious diseases 2008;12(1):51-6.

12. Publications-2
Gegia M, Mdivani N, Mendes RE, Li H, Akhalaia M, Han J, Khechinashvili G, Tang YW.
Prevalence of and molecular basis for tuberculosis drug resistance in the Republic of Georgia: validation of a QIAplex system for detection of drug resistance-related mutations.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother Feb;52(2): Epub 2007 Dec
L Vashakidze,* A. Salakaia,* N. Shubladze,* M. Cynamon,† K. Barbakadze,*M. Kikvidze,* L. Papitashvili,* M. Nonikashvili,* N. Solomonia,* N. Bejanishvili,* I. Khurtsilava*
Prevalence and risk factors for drug resistance among hospitalized tuberculosis patients in Georgia
INT J TUBERC LUNG DIS 2009;13(9):1–6
Lomtadze N, Aspindzelashvili R, Janjgava M, Mirtskhulava V, Wright A, Blumberg HM, Salakaia A.
Prevalence and risk factors for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Georgia: a population based study.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2009; 13: 68–73.
Mdivani N, Li H, Akhalaia M, Gegia M, Goginashvili L, Kernodle DS, Khechinashvili G, Tang YW.
Monitoring Therapeutic Efficacy by Real-Time Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis mRNA in Sputum.
Clin Chem Jul 2. [Epub ahead of print]

13. Current projects CRDF , Emory Global Health Institute:
 Risk factors for extensively drug resistant tuberculosis and evaluation of the GenoType MTBDRplus assay for rifampin and isoniazid susceptibility rapid testing in country of Georgia PI-M.Leonard, E.Zangaladze, Co-PI-N.Tukvadze, N.Lomtadze
“Prevalence and risk factors for extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) and evaluation of the GenoType MTBDRplus assay for rifampin and isoniazid susceptibility rapid testing in a population based study in Tbilisi, country of Georgia”, Year awarded: PIs Nino Lomtadze, Michael Leonard
Emory International Training & Research Programs
 In country training grant funded by National Institutes of Health/Fogarty International Center (D43 TW and D43 TW01042):
Evaluation of performance and feasibility of implementation of the GenoType MTBDRplus assay for rapid multidrug resistant tuberculosis detection in country of Georgia PI-N.Tukvadze
“Prevalence and Risk Factors for Extensively Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB): A Population Based Study”, Year awarded: PI. Nino Lomtadze
“Prevalence and Risk factors for latent Tuberculosis infections among health care workers in Georgia”. Year awarded: PI. Veriko Mirtskhulava
Emory Global Health institute:
“Impact of Vitamin D Supplementation on Host Immunity to Mycobacteriumtuberculosis and Response to Treatment: Building Translational Research Capacity in Nutrition and Infectious Diseases in the Republic of Georgia”, Year awarded: PI. Thomas Ziegler, Archil Salakaia; Georgian Co-Is: Nestan Tukvadze, Veriko Mirtskhulava, Nino Lomtadze

14. Our Collaborators-USA
Henry M. Blumberg, Professor Department: Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University
TB epidemiology research

15. Our Collaborators-USA
Carlos del Rio, Professor and Chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine. He is also Vice Chair in the Department of Medicine and Chief of the Emory Medical Service at Grady Memorial Hospital and Co-director for the Clinical Science and International Research Core of the Emory Center for AIDS Research.
HIV and TB epidemiology

16. Our Collaborators-USA
Kenrad Nelson- Dept. of Medicine, Div. of Infectious Diseases Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
TB epidemiology research

17. Our Collaborators-USA
Gary Magnant –CEO Sage Science, Inc. CEO at Sage Science
Founder of Sage Science, Inc. a biotechnology tools company. Co- inventor.
President at ActivBiotics (formerly Merlin)
Co-founder. Co-inventor.
CEO at ThermoCeramiX, Inc.
VP at MJ Research, Inc.
Business development. Sales management. CEO of Genesys division.
CEO at Owl Scientific
Co-founder. Inventor. Co-inventor.
Partner search

18. Our Collaborators-USA
Michael Cynamon - University Hospital Upstate Medical University
New compounds, animal studies, TB epidemiology

19. Our Collaborators-USA
James Graham – Associate Professor , University of Louisville
Identifying factors produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria when growing in human blood cells and lung tissues
Characterizing how pathogenic bacteria change to allow growth in different specific environments during infection

20. Our Collaborators-USA
Natalia Kurepina- Assistant Professor, Public Health Research Institute TB Center, International Center for Public Health
TB phage research, DNA fingerprinting

21. Our Collaborators-USA
Evgenia Rainina –senior research scientist, the US DOE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
TB phage-lysogenic properties

22. Our Collaborators-USA
William Bishai- Professor, Co- Director, Center for Tuberculosis Research Dept. of Medicine, Div. of Infectious Diseases Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Surgery resectates research

23. Our collaborators-FSU
Alexander Pasechnikov, MSF-South Caucasus and Mid-Asia –TB epidemiology
Kamal Aliev, Azerbaijan-Regional TB epidemiology proposal
Olga Lovacheva-Научный секретарь редколлегии журнала «Проблемы туберкулеза» и редактор журнала «Новые лекарственные препараты»

24. Our Collaborators -Georgia
Eka Zangaladze, NCDC of Georgia, Molecular Epidemiology laboratory-TB molecular research(RFLP, spolygotyping, MIRU-VNTR, sequencing, PFGE)
Zemfira Alavidze, Amiran Meipariani, Tamar Berishvili-Eliava Bacteriophage Institute- phage detection, propagation, description
Tengiz Tsertsvadze-AIDS Center
Maia Merlani-Kutateladze Pharmacochemistry Institute-new compounds for TB drugs.

25. Proposals in preparation
New approach to rapid MDR-XDR case detection.
Depression
TB phage
Electrochemical lysis in TB treatment

26. Thank you!