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Prof Diacon leads Task Applied Science and Task Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa. TASK is an institution specializing in clinical and microbiological TB research and particularly first-time evaluation of novel antibiotics in tuberculosis patients. The TASK clinical team has research sites in the community, at TB hospitals and at a private hospital specialized in tuberculosis research. The laboratory team aims at validating and improving markers for tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment effects.

Amongst other achievements, Prof Diacon was awarded a Rector’s Award for Outstanding Research at Stellenbosch University, the Swiss TB Research Award and the Scientific Prize from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease for his exceptional contribution towards research.

Associate professor Rod Dawson is the Managing Director of the University of Cape Town Lung Institute (UCTLI). He is also the Clinical Research Unit Head of the Centre for Tuberculosis Research Innovation (CTBRI) at the UCTLI. Prof Dawson is a Consultant Pulmonologist and holds the position of Honorary Senior Consultant in the Division of Pulmonology Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town. He was elected to the Board of the UCT Lung Institute in 2012 and was appointed Managing Director of the UCTLI since 2016.

The Centre for Tuberculosis Research Innovation was established by Prof Dawson in 2008 and is now established as a leading high volume research site for investigational studies for new drugs in TB and HIV, having conducted more than 30 pivotal TB treatment studies. Prof Dawson’s main research interests are: New TB drug development, Counselling interventions to improve compliance in Drug resistant TB (DR-TB), Standardized chest radiography reading and Interventional TB and HIV cohort studies. Prof Dawson has established an extensive collaborative research network and manages two prospective research cohorts including the “Longitudinal Pulmonary HIV” and the “TB Bio-storage” cohorts, that have established the basis of a novel self-funded research program which has supported 2 PhD students. He has published 54 manuscripts in PubMed-listed international peer reviewed journals. Prof Dawson’s total citation count on 1st May 2017 is 1976 with a Scopus h-Index of 26.

Prof Gavin Churchyard is a specialist physician, internationally-renowned for his contributions in tuberculosis (TB). He is the founder and CEO of The Aurum Institute NPC, an independent, not for profit, proudly South African, public benefit organization that focuses on TB and HIV service delivery, management and research. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Witwatersrand, School of Public Health and an Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine. He is the Chair of the WHO/TDR Disease Reference Group for TB, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer (2009-2012) and a member of the WHO Stop TB Research movement, both of which set global research priorities for TB.  He is also the Chair of the WHO Task Force for developing policy for new TB drugs, a member of the WHO Strategic Technical Advisory Group for TB that advises WHO on policy for TB, a member of the WHO expert committees for TB preventive therapy and TB screening and a member of the WHO Working Groups for TB/HIV, MDR TB and infection control. He is the co-Chair of the NIH HIV Vaccine Trials Network-TB vaccine working group, Vice Chair of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Transformative Science Group for TB, Co-Chair of a Fogarty Global Infectious Disease training grant for MDR TB.  He is the principal investigator on a number of TB trials being conducted in South Africa.  He has contributed to industry, national and international guidelines for TB and HIV, and has published widely in the areas of TB and HIV treatment and prevention.