TB Immunology Series: Mapping the Immune Landscape of Tuberculosis-HIV Co-infection - Fatoumatta Darboe

Hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wealth Okete⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, The Immunology in Africa Podcast explores narratives at the nexus of immunology & Africa. We ask professors, postdocs, PhD students, and everyone in between to tell us about their journey into immunology, the questions driving their current work, and the impact they hope to make on the continent.

To support our efforts towards amplifying African stories of immunology, you can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠buy us coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nominate a guest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Launching in April 2025, our special TB Immunology series and first-ever disease-focused series dives deep into the science, challenges, and success stories behind the fight to end tuberculosis.

We’re joined by leading scientists whose work in TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine development is shaping the current landscape of the disease in Africa and globally.

Whether you're actively involved in TB research or simply curious about the field, this experience promises to be both eye-opening and engaging.

The sixth and penultimate episode in the series features Fatoumatta Darboe. Originally from The Gambia, Fatoumatta currently works as an Assistant Professional Researcher at the University of California, San Francisco in the United States.

Darboe ventured into TB research during her master's programme at the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia (MRCG) at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where she also completed a postdoctoral training.

For her PhD at the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), she sought to define TB correlates of disease risk in several South African cohorts of individuals co-infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This work resulted in the validation and publication of an 11-gene biomarker (Darboe11), which predicted and diagnosed TB disease, and predicted treatment responses in several TB/HIV co-infected cohorts.

In this episode, she takes us on her long-standing relationship with TB, including how her interest in TB-HIV coinfection developed. She shares updates on ongoing projects exploring a fascinating pathway implicated in TB and HIV and immunogenic antibodies for TB.

Additionally, she talks about what fuels her advocacy for female education and representation in leadership, and why it's important to audit one's "circle" according to their goals.

Timestamps:

00:00 - intro

01:17 - early journey, getting into TB research

06:46 - navigating growth with minimal supervision

10:20 - journey to SATVI; PhD research highlights

14:07 - current projects

14:48 - TB-HIV co-infection; TB risk in PLWH

17:45 - understanding the kynurenine-tryptophan (KT) pathway in HIV/TB

19:00 - is the KT pathway relevant in TB aside from HIV?

21:13 - potential application of findings

23:40 - using bacteriophage to unravel TB antibody responses

28:33 - which TB strains are targeted in antibody response study?

29:56 - challenges, barriers, and sacrifices

38:00 - closing remarks

38:58 - Outro