TBnet News December 2025

anneoleischeck
7 days ago
4 min read

Season’s Greetings from Liga Kuksa, TBnet Chair

Dear TBnet members,

As the year comes to a close, we would like to sincerely thank you for your continued engagement

and commitment to TBnet. Whether through supporting our webinars and events, participating in studies, submitting proposals, or collaborating across projects and disciplines, your involvement is what makes TBnet a strong and dynamic network.

Together, these efforts help drive progress in tuberculosis research, prevention, and care. As we move into the year ahead, we look forward to further collaboration, new insights, and meaningful impact—together. Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a healthy, productive New Year.

Liga Kuksa, TBnet Chair - On behalf of the TBnet Steering Committee

The Next TBnet Webinar – “TB Update – A Year In Review”

Join is for the final webinar of 2025 with Prof Christoph Lange: “TB Update – A Year In Review”. Prof. Lange will provide an overview of the year's key global developments and findings in the field of TB, as well as highlights of TBnet's achievements.

Join us for this important analysis in Zoom on December 29 at 17:00 PM (CET) using the link below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/L2WqesxDSW-hH3DiDrNCAw

TBnet Annual Meeting 2026: Save the Date

The next TBnet Annual Meeting will be held on 21^st April 2026 at the Max von Pettenkofer-Institut in Munich, and we would ask our members to save the date in their calendars.

This will be a very special Annual Meeting as we will be celebrating TBnet’s 20^th Birthday! It has been an incredible journey getting to this point and all the amazing work that TBnet has done over the years has only been possible because of the dedication and commitment shown by our members. Please consider joining us on the day to mark the occasion, and more details will follow in due course.

TBnet Academy 2026 in Lithuania

We have now confirmed that the 2026 TBnet Academy will be taking place between 31st May and 3rd June 2026 in Vilnius, Lithuania. This is the flagship event in TBnet’s calendar and is an excellent opportunity for early career researchers to learn and network with established TB researchers. Full details and application forms will be released in February 2026, and we would strongly urge any of our early-career members to apply next year.

TB Among Solid Organ Transplant Recipients in Europe: The Latest TBnet Study

Iatrogenic immunosuppression places solid organ transplant recipients at higher risk of all infections, including tuberculosis. However, optimal prevention strategies for low- and medium-incidence settings remains unclear.

This multicentre retrospective cohort study involved 5,805 patients from across 15 European centres and found an overall TB incidence among transplant recipients of 68/100,000 person-years (Lange B et al. J Infect 2025, online). The highest incidence was seen among M. tuberculosis-infected individuals who did not receive preventive therapy and also in the Southern European region. The majority of TB disease cases occurred more than two years after transplantation, and these findings indicate the need for vigilance when managing people with solid organ transplants as well as region-specific screening and prevention strategies.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2025.106668

Welcome to the New Members of the TBnet Steering Committee

Anca Vasilu, Xenia E. S. Iversen, Yousra Kherabi

It is our pleasure to welcome the newest members to the Steering Committee for TBnet! The results of the elections were announced last month at the TBnet Annual Meeting, and the latest additions to the Committee bring a wealth of experience with them.

Steering Committee Member for Database Management: Anca Vasiliu

Anca is a medical doctor specializing in Public Health with a keen interest in tuberculosis research in high-endemic countries. Anca completed her PhD on a randomized controlled trial evaluating a community intervention for household contact tracing and preventive therapy management for TB child contacts and her work is focusing on tuberculosis screening and diagnosis in high-risk populations like young children, pregnant women, and migrants.

Early Career Steering Committee Candidate for NTM: Xenia E. S. Iversen

Xenia is a biochemist and molecular biologist currently working as a PhD student at the International Reference Laboratory of Mycobacteriology at Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research focuses on NTM molecular epidemiology, microbiology and resistance development, with the aim of advancing diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary infections. Within the TBnet she represents an early career steering committee candidate with a focus on NTM.

Early Career Steering Committee Candidate for TB: Yousra Kherabi

Yousra is an infectious diseases physician with a focus on drug-resistant TB. Her research centres on optimizing TB management through advanced clinical trial methodology and international collaboration. Within TBnet she represents an early career steering committee candidate with focus on TB.

Congratulations to Berit Lange!

Lastly, we would like to round off the final newsletter of the year with a massive congratulations to our Steering Committee member, Berit Lange, who delivered her inauguration lecture this month after being appointed as Professor for Infectious Disease Epidemiology at HZI! Berit contribution to the field of tuberculosis epidemiology has informed how we view the disease dynamics both in Europe and globally, and this appointment reflects her outstanding work over the years.