J. Sixsmith

Development of an Engineered Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strain for a Safe and Effective Tuberculosis Human Challenge Model

This paper develops an engineered Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain with kill switches for a safe TB human challenge model, showing rapid clearance and low escape rates.

Attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis Vaccine Protection in a Low Dose Murine Challenge Model

This study shows that the live attenuated Mtb vaccine candidate ΔLprG provides better protection than BCG in a low dose murine challenge model, reducing detectable infection and containing it anatomically.

Fc-engineered antibodies leverage neutrophils to drive control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

This study uses Fc-engineered antibodies to enhance Mtb control by leveraging neutrophils, showing restrictive Fc variants improve neutrophil survival and antimicrobial activity in a human whole blood model.

Loss of RNase J leads to multi-drug tolerance and accumulation of highly structured mRNA fragments in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

This study shows that loss of RNase J in Mtb leads to drug tolerance and accumulation of structured mRNA fragments, highlighting its role in RNA metabolism and drug resistance.

Multiplexed strain phenotyping defines consequences of genetic diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis for infection and vaccination outcomes

This study uses molecular barcoding to analyze genetic diversity in Mtb strains, showing L2 strains have distinct growth dynamics and resist BCG vaccination.

Rifampicin and rifabutin resistance in 1000 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates

The paper investigates rifamycin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, finding that the D435V rpoB mutation increases IC50 for both rifampicin and rifabutin, suggesting the need to revise RFB testing concentrations.