Grace Muzanyi

Grace Muzanyi is a principal investigator at the Makerere University Biomedical Science Research Center (MAKBRC). He works as a senior clinical trials co-ordinator at the Uganda-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration (UCRC) and also as a clinical trial consultant. Muzanyi is interested in understanding the correlation of TB immunological markers (IL-2, IL-1Ra, I-P10, MIP-β, and MCP-1) and TB sputum culture. Specifically, he wants to assess the level of each or a combination of cytokines at the time points of active TB diagnosis, months 1, 2, 5, and 6 and how they relate to sputum culture on liquid (days to positivity) and solid (quantitative colony counts) media; to assess the baseline level of each cytokine or a combination and how it correlates with (a) the clinical response to TB treatment at months 1, 2, 5, and 6 and (b) the clinical severity and radiographic extent (severity) of TB disease at diagnosis and end of treatment; to evaluate the changes in the TB cytokine levels between active and latent TB during treatment with ERHZ (for active TB) and 6H (for latent TB), stratified by HIV status; to evaluate the TB cytokine levels across three populations of active TB, Latent TB, and TB-exposed healthy volunteers who are TST/IGRA negative; and to compare the cost-effectiveness of a novel point-of-care test for TB immunological markers against sputum culture (standard of care).