The Johns Hopkins University Tuberculosis Research and Advancement Center (JHU TRAC) is one of six national TB research centers funded by the NIH through a P30 grant award. Our mission is to strengthen and accelerate tuberculosis research at Johns Hopkins by bringing together scientists, clinicians, epidemiologists, and modelers from across the university to tackle TB’s most pressing challenges through collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches. We support this work through an Administrative Core and five additional specialized Cores, including a Developmental Core and Clinical and Scientific Cores, that provide investigators with essential resources, technical expertise, and services to advance their research.
A central focus of JHU TRAC is cultivating the next generation of TB researchers. We offer pilot funding, mentorship, and career development support to new and early-stage investigators, with special attention to increasing representation from groups historically underrepresented in biomedical research. JHU TRAC has pioneered several distinctive initiatives to achieve this goal, including our innovative Pod Mentoring program, which pairs emerging researchers with experienced mentors in small collaborative groups. We have also taken a leadership role in fostering connections across the national network of TB research centers, notably by organizing the quarterly inter-TRAC Basic Science Early-Stage Investigator Journal Club. Through these efforts, alongside our partnerships and training programs with colleagues in high-TB-burden settings, JHU TRAC is committed to building a robust pipeline of talented investigators while contributing to the worldwide effort to end tuberculosis.
Objectives
- Enhance the integration, productivity and impact of JHU TB research
- Convene and coordinate the interaction of TB Investigators from across JHU to generate interdisciplinary collaborations.
- Sponsor seminars, symposia, workshops, training programs, and an annual TB scientific meeting to disseminate new information and promote dialogue and interaction between basic, clinical, epidemiologic, and modeling researchers.
- Provide mentoring, support, and pilot funding for the next generation of TB researchers, and increase the pipeline of talented NI/ESI from groups underrepresented in medicine. The Developmental Core (DC) will recruit NI and ESI, with an emphasis on UHRR groups and those new to TB research, provide mentoring and collaboration opportunities, and access to services to help launch independent careers in TB research.
- Support TB researchers with direct services from a Clinical Core and three Scientific Cores.
- Contribute to the END TB goals through global engagement, training, outreach, and collaboration with partners in high-burden countries.
