The Role of Diagnostics in Infectious Disease Control: A Look at TB in the San Francisco Area

Dr. Masae Kawamura

Director, Tuberculosis Control Program, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Abstract

Dr. Kawamura will present the challenges associated with tuberculosis control in the San Francisco area, as well as some of their ongoing and investigational initiatives to combat the spread of the disease through innovative diagnostic tools.

Speaker Biography

Masae Kawamura, MD has been a tuberculosis (TB) clinician for more than 20 years, serving as Director of San Francisco’s TB Control Program since 1996. Under her leadership, San Francisco became the first jurisdiction in the U.S. to implement Interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) blood testing for TB. Currently, TB Control is also participating in studies preliminary to acceptance of the new sputum-sample based GeneXpert TB test, from Cepheid.

A Co-Principal Investigator for Curry National TB Center, a CDC–affiliated Regional Training and Medical Consultation Center, Dr. Kawamura has served on the faculty since its inception in 1994. She also served on the CDC Advisory Council for the Elimination of TB (ACET) for eight years, the last three as chair, and continues to serve on subcommittees of the group. Dr. Kawamura is an assistant clinical professor at the University of California–San Francisco (UCSF) and has coauthored numerous TB publications. She is currently president of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD), North American Region.

About the Point-of-Care Diagnostics Idea Lab

The Point-of-Care Diagnostics (POCDx) Idea Lab was created as a forum for graduate students who are working in the areas of medical diagnostics and global health to discuss topics relevant to their research.  Students working in the areas of engineering, science, policy, and healthcare are encouraged to attend.  The bi-weekly meetings will be informal and will usually include one or two short presentations by graduate students, faculty, or other outside speakers affiliated with POCDx.

This video was originally recorded on May 24th, 2011 in 621 Stanley Hall, UC Berkeley