Consortium

ERA4TB has partnered with Collaborating Partners that are actively working in TB drug discovery and development activities through the TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA) initiative. Six Collaborating Partners from US act as advisors/consultants to support the implementation of the action.

The Collaborating Partners and advisors/consultants are listed below:

Dr Gilla Kaplan, Ph.D. Former Director of the Global Health Program, Tuberculosis, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2014 to 2019. She was professor of Medicine at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and also Head of the Laboratory of Mycobacterial Immunity and Pathogenesis at Public Health Research Institute Centre. Dr Kaplan’s academic research has focused on understanding the cellular immune response to mycobacterial infections and informed the development of immune modulatory drugs that reduce pathogenesis and improve efficacy of treatment.

Dr Marco Cavaleri, Head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy at The European Medicines Agency. Dr Cavaleri is a Pharmacologist who spent several years in industry in R&D mainly in the area of anti-infectives covering different positions in preclinical and clinical development. Today is the Chair of EMA COVID Task force and responsible for EMA activities for emergent pathogens, vaccines and AMR.

Dr Francesca Conradie is the clinical research study leader at the Thusong Clinic at the Sizwe Tropic Diseases Hospital in Johannesburg and is a joint appointee with Wits University where she is a lecturer. Throughout her career, Dr Conradie has been a part of the research agenda that brought effective antiretroviral therapy to millions of South Africans living with HIV. Now, she is focused on TB research, especially new treatment strategies for drug-resistant TB. Dr Conradie sits on the National Clinical Advisory Committee, headed by the National TB Programme, and has developed guidelines for bedaquiline eligibility.

Alberto García-Basteiro studied in Santiago and specialized in Preventive Medicine and Public Health at Hospital Clinic de Barcelona.
He completed his training with two master’s degrees at the LSHTM in London and Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. He stayed in Costa Rica and other Central American and African countries.
At present, Alberto coordinates the tuberculosis research area at the Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM) in Mozambique and is research associate professor at Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal).