🔴 Day 2 Live Update
An insightful presentation by Dr. Richard Anthony on “Precision Epidemiology: Understanding the Epidemiology of Clustered Cases of Tuberculosis using Whole Genome Sequencing, Lots of Information and Some Noise.”
Dr. Anthony is a senior scientist and leads the tuberculosis reference laboratory at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven, The Netherlands. His research interests include the use of whole genome sequencing for tuberculosis genotyping, surveillance, and the detection and prediction of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Whole genome sequencing has become an important tool for studying the genetic relationships between M. tuberculosis isolates. By comparing genomic differences between isolates, researchers can investigate possible transmission links and identify clusters of genetically related cases, providing higher-resolution information than traditional genotyping approaches.
Dr. Anthony has contributed to research evaluating WGS for tuberculosis surveillance in Europe, as well as studies examining how genomic information can support resistance prediction. Research from the RIVM tuberculosis reference laboratory has demonstrated the potential of WGS data to support both epidemiological investigations and prediction of susceptibility to first-line tuberculosis drugs.
The presentation highlights both the value and the complexity of genomic epidemiology: large-scale sequencing provides substantial information for understanding TB transmission, but interpreting genetic relationships requires careful consideration of biological and technical variation.
This presentation is part of Session VII: TB-HIV Co-Infection & Precision Epidemiology on Day 2 of Frontiers in TB & Mycobacteriology 2026.
This conference is organized by Impact Research Communications (IRC)
More info: https://tb.ircconferences.net/ | Frontiers in TB & Mycobacteriology
