As a research fellow in clinical medicine, Sharee Basdeo focuses primarily on tuberculosis (TB), which has co-evolved with the human immune system for thousands of years.

By tuning in, you'll discover:

• How the three general responses to TB exposure differ, and why it's been difficult to determine why only some people develop active TB disease after exposure  
• What is problematic about drug therapies and the vaccine for TB
• What Basdeo believes is the next step in TB-related research

There are roughly three categories of responses to TB: a person can be exposed to TB but mount no immune response and show no signs of having been exposed, a person can be exposed and their immune system can mount an effective response which contains the TB infection and puts it in a dormant state, or a person can be exposed and develop active TB disease. 

So, what determines which course of action will occur? This is a question that has yet to be answered, and one that many people are actively researching. Basdeo discusses this topic, along with many other fascinating subjects, including how those who harbor latent TB can develop active TB as they age, innate immunity, what happens when the wrong drug or wrong dose of drug is taken for TB, how the lung and gut microbiome might be related to the immune response for TB, the mutagenesis of TB and why it is difficult to kill TB, how TB finds ways to tune down the immune response to allow itself to exist undetected, and the importance of Th17 cells.

Visit https://www.tcd.ie/research/profiles/?profile=sbasdeo to learn more about Basdeo's work.

Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK