OSU Receives Gates Foundation Grant for Tuberculosis Research

CORVALLIS, Ore.-- Oregon State University biomedical researcher Luiz Bermudez, M.D., has received a grant of nearly $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study a potential new treatment for tuberculosis (TB), a contagious disease that afflicts approximately one-third of the world's population

While TB is curable, approximately 1.5 million people die from the disease every year, and drug-resistant strains are on the rise, according to the World Health Organization. The foundation's grant will allow Bermudez, an infectious disease expert with more than 25 years experience in TB research, to study how a common treatment for malaria called mefloquine may also be used to treat tuberculosis.

To read the full press release, visit the Oregon State University web site.