An electronic newsletter from the Curry International Tuberculosis Center (CITC)
Tongue swab can rapidly and accurately test for TB
A new test that does not depend on examining sputum in a microscope to detect M. tuberculosis has been hailed as a game changer in TB diagnostics. A simple tongue swab and portable device can provide results at “point of care” facilities (i.e., mobile clinics and decentralized facilities) more quickly, accurately, and affordably than traditional sputum smear microscopy.
Credit: Alfred Andama. Photo courtesy of University of California. |
The test is based on a process similar to the one used in hospital-based COVID testing. Last year the Chinese company PlusLife released the MiniDock MTB that takes a phlegm sample – or a mere tongue swab – and scans it for DNA from the TB bacteria. The device costs only $300, and at $3-4 per test, will allow TB testing to be significantly scaled up in resource-limited settings.
Photo courtesy of ASCI | University of California, Irvine professor and UCSF Center for Tuberculosis researcher Adithya Cattamanchi, MD, MAS co-authored a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that demonstrated the test met targets set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for diagnostic accuracy and usability for TB detection across diverse clinical settings. In March 2026 WHO officially recommended its use, noting the urgent need to “… close persistent diagnostic gaps and ensure that everyone with TB can be diagnosed early and start life-saving treatment without delay.” |
The new technology cannot detect drug resistance, may not recognize TB in early stages of development (due to low bacterial loads), and is not currently available in the United States. Dr. Cattamanchi is nonetheless optimistic, telling National Public Radio: "My hope…is that after more than 150 years, we finally get rid of using a microscope…and everyone who has TB symptoms is getting a high-quality molecular test." TB prevention and control advocates in the U.S. have long called for more TB diagnostic options and strongly support approval of the new test by U.S. regulators.
TB community gathers for annual conference
On June 8-12, the National TB Coalition of America (NTCA) and California TB Controllers Association (CTCA) combined forces to host the National TB Conference in Rancho Mirage, CA. Over 400 TB program staff and affiliated providers from throughout the U.S. and the Pacific Islands flocked to the beautiful desert setting to learn, share, and network. Sessions featured expert panels that discussed: advancements in treatment regimens and emerging adverse effects, TB in special populations, challenges surrounding TB drug availability and affordability, and new shorter TB disease and prevention treatment regimens (4HPMZ and 1HP).
|
| In her keynote remarks, California TB Controller Jennifer Flood, MD, MPH outlined 30 years of critical milestones, successes, and persistent challenges in the field of TB elimination. | UCSF professor Patrick Phillips, PhD, MS, MA presented an overview of the latest research on emerging regimens as featured in current clinical trials. | 
Photo courtesy of UCSF |
The annual conference provides a special opportunity for staff from the 4 CDC-funded TB Centers of Excellence (COE) to meet in person with conference attendees from their geographic regions. CITC’s session on June 9 attracted over 90 Western Region TB program representatives who shared their emerging needs, challenges, and ideas for potential CITC support and collaboration.
|
The NTCA/CTCA joint awards ceremony on June 10 was a highlight of the conference.
NTCA award recipients include two honorees from CITC’s Western Region:
| Ann Loeffler, MD, Santa Clara County (CA) Public Health, received the NTCA William Stead TB Clinician Award, recognizing outstanding commitment and performance by a clinician providing TB care, leadership, or mentoring. Dr. Loeffler is a pediatric TB expert and longtime member of the CITC training and Warmline faculty. | 
|
| Jennifer Hubber, MPH, Washington State Department of Health, was given the NTCA TB Data Stewardship Award honoring individuals working with TB program data to support and improve public health practice. Her colleague, TB Nurse Consultant Lana Dov, RN, MSN, nominated Ms. Hubber and presented the award. |
CTCA awards were presented to TB practitioners who work in California…
| The Brenda Ashkar Award honors the exemplary TB nursing career of Brenda Ashkar by recognizing California RNs who have dedicated at least 10 years to TB control. This year’s 3 recipients were: Ann Raftery, MS, RN, PHN, California Department of Public Health TB Control Branch; Miriam Banyamin, BSN, RN, PHN, Stanislaus County Health Services; and May Thao, RN, PHN, Butte County Public Health. | 
|
| The CTCA Andy Lopez Award recognizes outstanding allied health professionals, and this year was awarded to 2 recipients: Graviela Rivera, Solano County Public Health, and Laura Romo-Timme, MPH, San Francisco Department of Public Health. | 
|
| CTCA’s Henry A. Renteln Award honors practitioners and public health officials with over 15 years of experience who have made meaningful contributions to TB control in California. This year’s awardees were Ann Loeffler, MD, Santa Clara County Public Health, and Pennan Barry, MD, MPH, California Department of Public Health TB Control Branch. |
Warmline faculty updates
CITC bids a reluctant and grateful farewell to 3 longtime Warmline consultants and warmly welcomes 2 new consultants to the Warmline TB medical consultation service.
Lisa Goozé, MD, Chris Spitters, MD, MPH, MS, and Karen Martinek, RN, MPH have left the Warmline roster of volunteer consultants in recent months, after contributing a combined 60 years of service to CITC’s medical consultation service.
| Dr. Lisa Goozé, TB Controller for San Mateo County in Northern California, joined the Warmline in 1997 as a TB physician and expert in HIV medicine. Earlier in the decade, Dr. Gooze’s work at UCSF fully immersed her in dual epidemics: a national resurgence of TB and the growing HIV/AIDS crisis, forging her special expertise in managing TB and HIV co-morbidity. Warmline clients not only appreciated Dr. Goozé’s clinical acumen, but also routinely praised her warm and approachable manner. |
| Dr. Chris Spitters recently retired after 30 years of public health service in Washington State in numerous clinical and administrative roles, including State TB Medical Consultant, and TB control officer and/or health officer for King, Snohomish, and Yakima Counties. A Warmline consultant since 2010, Dr. Spitters was a master problem-solver when confronted with complex cases. Clients appreciated the great care he took to research and write detailed summaries of their consultations. | 
Photo courtesy of Washington State DOH |
| Ms. Karen Martinek joined the corps of Warmline nurse consultants in 2010, bringing her wealth of public health nursing experience in Alaska, a state as richly diverse as it is geographically challenging. Ms. Martinek devoted over 35 years to the health of Alaskans, from doing “TB sweeps” in remote villages in the Alaskan interior to serving as the State’s TB Nursing Consultant. Warmline clients benefitted from her programmatic and clinical knowledge, as well as her skills in navigating the cultural and linguistic complexities of TB care. |
| In 2025, two new consultants joined the Warmline roster: Amy Beeson, MD, FAAP, and Devan Jaganath, MD, MPH. Dr. Beeson is Medical Director at the Denver Health TB Program and joins the cadre of 5 Warmline consultants based in Colorado. Dr. Jaganath is the newest addition to the Warmline pediatric TB faculty. He is a pediatric infectious disease physician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF Department of Medicine. | 
Photo courtesy of Denver Health | 
Photo courtesy of UCSF |
The Warmline faculty is comprised of 35 expert consultants and subspecialists. They bring clinical and programmatic expertise to their consultations, coupled with humility and a spirit of collaboration – qualities closely tied to the legacy of Dr. Francis Curry, the Center’s namesake.
Learn more about CITC’s Warmline TB consultation service.
Awards
In recent months, 3 distinguished physicians with close ties to CITC/UCSF received awards for their extraordinary leadership and contributions to the field of TB medicine: Charles L. Daley, MD; Joel Ernst, MD; and Payam Nahid, MD, MPH.
Photo courtesy of NJ Health | On February 26, Dr. Charles L. Daley received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 30th annual conference of The Union-North America Region (NAR) in Philadelphia. Dr. Daley, Chief of the Division of Mycobacterial and Respiratory Infections at National Jewish Health, began his long and prodigious career at UCSF, where he directed the Chest Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital and served as CITC’s first Medical Director. The award recognized Dr. Daley’s many contributions to academic medicine and global MDR-TB control and was presented by his longtime colleague, Lisa Chen, MD, NAR’s Immediate Past-President and Medical Director of CITC. |
| At the UCSF World TB Day Symposium on March 24, the annual Phil Hopewell Mentorship Award was presented to Dr. Joel Ernst, recognizing his exceptional mentorship in TB research. Dr. Ernst is Chief of Experimental Medicine at UCSF’s Department of Medicine and heads the Ernst Lab where researchers focus on immunity to M. tuberculosis to inform the design and development of new TB vaccines. Named for CITC’s co-founder Phil Hopewell, MD, the award honors the vital role of mentors in medical science. This year’s symposium was co-hosted by CITC, the UCSF Center for Tuberculosis, and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH). | 
Photo courtesy of UCSF |
Photo courtesy of UCSF | On May 16, Dr. Payam Nahid received the 2026 World Lung Health Award at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Nahid is Executive Director of the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences and directs the UCSF Center for Tuberculosis. He has chaired major U.S. and international TB guideline groups and co-led the clinical trial of the four-month rifapentine–moxifloxacin–based regimen for drug-susceptible TB. In addition to Dr. Nahid, other CITC affiliates who have won this prestigious award include Phil Hopewell, MD (2007) and Charles Daley, MD (2016). |
Noteworthy
CDC report describes large U.S. outbreaks of TB. In the April 30, 2026 MMWR, CDC reported a total of 50 large TB outbreaks that occurred in 23 states during 2017-2023. The outbreaks primarily involved U.S.-born persons, and two-thirds of the large outbreaks occurred within family and social networks. Findings demonstrated that persons with TB in large outbreaks reported substance use, homelessness, and incarceration more often than did other persons with TB.
 | DST services at select U.S. referral labs: A tool for clinicians now available. A fully updated version of CITC’s tool for clinicians, Phenotypic and molecular drug susceptibility testing (DST) available at select referral laboratories, is now available on the CITC website. The tool, developed in partnership with national referral laboratory colleagues, is an Excel file that contains detailed information for clinicians about the DST services available at 7 key referral laboratories in the U.S. |
| Online game builds TB awareness. TB Eradicator is a free, non-commercial online game built to raise awareness and knowledge about the world’s deadliest infectious disease. The game is based on a classic arcade format, and players defend their lungs against four actual types of TB bacteria. Developed by startup builder Jason Madhosingh as a tribute to the work of his wife, Dr. Amee Patrawalla, Medical Director at Rutgers Global TB Institute, TB Eradicator launched in March 2026, timed to International Women's Day and World TB Day. |  |
 | TB radiography guide now in print. CITC recently announced the print release of the 3rd edition of Radiographic Manifestations of Tuberculosis: A Primer for Clinicians on Basic Radiography of Pulmonary TB. This fully updated primer is designed for clinicians who are likely to encounter patients with TB, with the clinical use of chest radiography for diagnosis and management of TB in mind. Order your print copy or view/download a PDF version of this publication. |
CITC staff transitions
| John Szumowski, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at the UCSF/Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and a physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center recently assumed the role of Medical Consultant at CITC. A member of the Warmline faculty since 2024, Dr. Szumowski now provides clinical guidance to CITC’s training courses and consultation program. | 
|
| In January CITC’s Senior Nurse Consultant Lisa True, RN, MS completed her 2-year post-retirement appointment at CITC. Ms. True now brings her wealth of experience in TB nursing and program management to the role of TB Nurse Manager with Alameda County (CA) Health. CITC is fortunate that Ms. True will remain on the Warmline roster as a volunteer nurse consultant. |
Upcoming trainings
CITC’s schedule of upcoming trainings offers a variety of training opportunities for clinicians and public health providers.
Case Management/Contact Investigation Course Level 2: TB Case Management
10-Week Hybrid Course (Online Self-Paced Modules + Live Interactive Session)
June 15-August 21, 2026
Case Management/Contact Investigation Course Level 1: TB Basics, Contact Investigation, and Latent TB Infection
10-Week Hybrid Course (Online Self-Paced Modules + Live Interactive Session)
August 24-October 30, 2026
Tuberculosis Nursing Workshop - Seattle
July 14, 2026
Seattle, Washington
Focus on LTBI - Seattle
July 15, 2026
Seattle, Washington
Tuberculosis Clinical Intensive - Seattle
July 16-17, 2026
Seattle, Washington
Taking Side Effects Seriously | Drug-induced Liver Injury: Who, What, and When?
July 29, 2026
Webinar
Taking Side Effects Seriously | Drug-induced Liver Injury: Diagnosis and Management
September 2, 2026
Webinar
2026 Pacific Islands Tuberculosis Controllers Association (PITCA) Conference
September 10-14, 2026
Tumon, Guam
Focus on LTBI - Oakland
October 12, 2026
Oakland, California
Tuberculosis Clinical Intensive - Oakland
October 13-15, 2026
Oakland, California
Four Corners TB/HIV Conference
November 17-18, 2026
Flagstaff, Arizona
The Union NAR Conference
February 24-27, 2027
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
For periodic updates on additional trainings, complete course descriptions, and application forms, visit the CITC training section.
About CITC
CITC creates, enhances, and disseminates resources and models of excellence, and performs research to control and eliminate TB in the United States and internationally. The Curry Center opened in 1994 and is now designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a TB Center of Excellence (TB COE) for the Western Region, serving Alaska, Arizona, California (including Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco), Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the U.S. Pacific Island Territories. Committed to the belief that everyone deserves the highest quality of care in a manner consistent with his or her culture, values and language, CITC develops and delivers highly versatile, culturally appropriate trainings, educational products, medical consultation, and technical assistance.
CITC staff
Principal Investigator/Medical Director: Lisa Chen, MD
Deputy Director: Kelly Musoke, MPH
Medical Consultant: John Szumowski, MD, MPH
Director of Education: Jeannie Fong
Nurse Consultant: Colleen Hoehn, BSN, MPH
Program Manager: Amelia Alonis
Program Manager/Consultation Co-Administrator: Emily Mabry, MPH, CHES®
Program Manager/Consultation Co-Administrator: Gal Tabachnik, MPH
Web Developer: Mari Griffin, MS
Special Projects Manager/Newsletter Editor: Kay Wallis, MPH
Contact us
Curry International Tuberculosis Center
University of California, San Francisco
550 16th Street, 3rd floor
San Francisco, CA 94143
For FedEx deliveries, use zip code 94158
(510) 238-5100
Warmline TB Medical Consultation: 877-390-6682 (toll-free) or 415-502-4700
CurryTBCenter@ucsf.edu
www.currytbcenter.ucsf.edu
UCSF Center for Tuberculosis
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Bluesky
How to unsubscribe
Please email your unsubscribe request to CurryTBCenter@ucsf.edu if you no longer wish to receive CITC Newsletter.