By stefaniedipalma

Stefanie Di Palma never thought she would find doing research even remotely enjoyable, and never thought she would become a graduate student. Ever. She is now working towards a Masters in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC, with most of her time being spent in the Atherosclerosis Specialty Lab at Saint Paul`s Hospital. Aside from her academic interests, Stefanie loves dancing (salsa, bachata!), good food and wine, and Scrabble.

TUBERCULOSIS AND THE BCG VACCINE: NOT QUITE GOOD ENOUGH

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the most virulent pathogens, infecting one third of the world’s total population (1). Tuberculosis (TB), of which M. tuberculosis is the causative agent, has become a frightening epidemic, killing almost two million people annually (1). The development of the Mycobacterium bovis bacilli Calmette-Géurin (BCG) vaccine in 1921 and its subsequent routine use in infants in developed countries has succeeded in reducing the incidence of TB (2). The effectiveness of BCG varies greatly though with geographic location – ranging from 0-80%. The failure of BCG is of particular importance in the developing world where rates of…

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