University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
College of Health Sciences

CHS Faculty Member Tackles TB
January 9, 2009

Ay UWM's College of Health Sciences (CHS) assistant professor Marcia Firmani, Ph.D. is fast becoming a leading expert on the disease. Firmani is a faculty member in the clinical laboratory sciences program. For the past 10 years, her work has concentrated on the study of Mycobacterim tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes TB.

The most frequent form of TB is latent and does not cause clinical symptoms (although latent TB can lead to active TB in immune-compromised individuals). Tuberculosis is treatable and curable, in many patients, with a regimen of multiple drugs over a period of six to nine months.

Firmani is quick to point out that many countries' health care systems are not adequate and the drugs are not affordable or are not administered properly. Additionally, more people in the developed world are contracting TB because their immune systems are compromised by immuno-suppressive drugs, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS. The disease also has become drug-resistant and can mutate into new strains.

Currently her work, funded through a $250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, is focused on these different strains. She is looking at the molecular genetics and epidemiology of the Mtb strains that are better able to resist the body's normal defense mechanisms.

She explained, “We hope to provide a better understanding of the Mtb strains that are more likely to be circulating among a specific population. Also, we're trying to identify virulence genes that may give the organism an enhanced ability to survive and transmit to a new host.”

Working with her in a special Bio Safety Level-3 Lab, in a separate room with negative air and its own instruments and autoclave, are several graduate and undergraduate students. Supported by $500 student research grants from CHS's Research and Graduate Program Committee, they do their own related Mtb projects that have the potential of being published.

“The goal of all of us in the field,” she said, “is to improve TB treatment, prevention and intervention strategies.”

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The UWM College of Health Sciences offers the largest number of health-related degree programs in Wisconsin, training its graduates for high-demand careers. Many of the College's six undergraduate and seven graduate degree programs are nationally recognized and have achieved the highest accreditation awards possible. The College's faculty conducts state-of-the-art research attracting a record number of federal research grants. During its 33-year history, the College's research and health sciences education has contributed significantly to improving quality of life.

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