TB Research Methods – 14-18 July 2014

Montreal, Canada
The TB Research Methods course is an intensive course focused on molecular and genetic epidemiology, randomized controlled trials, diagnostic research, meta-analyses, decision analyses and modeling.

Course flyer
Course agenda
Day 1 – 14 July 2014

  • Overview – The WHO global TB research Plan (by C Leinhardt) [Slides]
  • Research priorities in DR-TB (by D Menzies) [Slides]
  • Pediatric TB research – barriers and progress (by B Marais) [Slides]
  • HIV-TB research and global priorities (by WJ Burman) [Slides]
  • Overview of study architectures (by D Menzies) [Slides]

Day 2 – 15 July 2014

  • Operational research: what, why and how (by AD Harries) [Slides]
  • Capacity building for operational research in low- and middle-income countries – the SORT IT Model (by AD Harries) [Slides]
  • Principles and structure of a research protocol (by AD Harries) [Slides]
  • Examples of operations research studies conducted within the Indian National TB Control Programme (by S Satyanarayana) [Slides]
  • Error, Confounders and Bias (by M Pai) [Slides]

Day 3 – 16 July 2014

  • Molecular methods for typing and branding the tubercle bacillus (by M Behr) [Slides]
  • Molecular Typing for patient, outbreak and population-level studies of TB epidemiology (by M Behr) [Slides]
  • Genetic Epidemiology – A brief introduction (by E Schurr) [Slides]
  • Genetic association studies in TB (by E Schurr) [Slides]
  • Population selection and sample size (by A Benedetti) [Slides]

Day 4 – 17 July 2014

  • Trial designs. Phase 1, 2 and 3 trials. Pragmatic and OBT designs (by D Menzies) [Slides]
  • Study populations and sample size. Recruitment and randomization. Preventing bias and measurement issues (by F Ahmad Khan) [Slides]
  • Details re Cluster Randomized and stepped intervention trials. Safety and ethics in trials. Adverse events and DSMB. Study oversight (by G Fox) [Slides]
  • Data Analysis – primary end-points, planned and unplanned secondary analyses. Interim analyses, stopping rules (by D Menzies) [Slides]
  • Data Analysis Methodology (by A Benedetti) [Slides]

Day 5 – 18 July 2014

  • Introduction to infectious disease modeling (by O Oxlade) [Slides]
  • Introduction to economic analyses (by K Schwartzman) [Slides]
  • How to evaluate an economic analysis (by K Schwartzman) [Slides]
  • Issues and challenges in modeling TB (by O Oxlade) [Slides]