IDM CPD-ACCREDITED SEMINAR: Beyond the Cough: Non-Sputum Strategies for TB Diagnosis

Dr Simon Mendelsohn is a physician-scientist and Senior Researcher at the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), University of Cape Town. Prior to joining SATVI, he implemented HIV and TB programmes in Malawian prisons with Médecins Sans Frontières, and has clinical experience managing TB and HIV in South Africa’s public health sector. As a clinical investigator, he has contributed to over 30 TB vaccine and therapeutic trials and diagnostic observational studies, advancing our understanding of TB treatment and prevention strategies.

Dr. Mendelsohn’s work aims to advance TB diagnostic, preventive, and treatment strategies that are scalable in low- and middle-income countries. His research focuses on the development and clinical validation of novel diagnostics and biomarker-guided strategies for detecting and treating TB in high-burden settings. He is particularly interested in non-sputum-based approaches for diagnosing persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and asymptomatic TB, integrating blood-based transcriptomic signatures and novel molecular techniques to guide targeted interventions.