Project 4: Biophysics of Mtb droplets and fluid spray technology to elucidate Mtb transmission

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), kills more people than any other infectious disease each year. This is due, in large part, to its ability to spread from person to person through air with an estimated infectious dose as low as one organism. Knowledge of the specific physico-chemical conditions associated with Mtb's successful transmission through air from one host to another however remains surprisingly incomplete. This project proposes to use applied mathematics, rheology, interfacial physics, and novel fluid dynamics and droplet biophysics technologies to fill critical gaps in knowledge about the in-host and between-host microenvironment of respirable droplets that can transmit Mtb. Knowledge of such properties represents a conceptually powerful window into microbiological determinants of tuberculosis (TB) transmission and novel transmission blocking interventions. These studies thus not only promise to shed light on the fundamental environmental challenges faced by Mtb during its journey from one host to others, but, in collaboration with other projects and cores in this application, will also enable the development of new and sorely needed technologies for improved in vitro and animal models with which to enable experimental studies of TB transmission and novel transmission blocking interventions.