Publications & Presentations
Published Manuscripts
Basile, F. W., Sweeney, S., Singh, M. P., Bijker, E. M., Cohen, T., Menzies, N. A., Vassall, A., & Indravudh, P. (2024). Uncertainty in tuberculosis clinical decision-making: An umbrella review with systematic methods and thematic analysis. PLOS global public health, 4(7), e0003429.
Khambati, N., Song, R., Smith, J. P., Bijker, E. M., McCarthy, K., Click, E. S., Mchembere, W., Okumu, A., Musau, S., Okeyo, E., Perez-Velez, C. M., & Cain, K. (2024). Feasibility and utility of a combined nasogastric-tube-and-string-test device for bacteriologic confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis in young children. Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease, 109(3), 116302.
Basile, F. W., Bijker, E. M., Sekadde, M., Dorman, S. E., Ellner, J. J., Engel, N., Ruhwald, M., & Song, R. (2024). One step further: improving paediatric TB diagnosis through user-centred research approaches. IJTLD open, 1(9), 425–427.
Andama, A., Steadman, A. E., Ahls, C., Cangelosi, G., David, A., de Vos, M., Heichman, K., Kato-Maeda, M., Penn-Nicholson, A., Olson, A., Scott, L., Turnbull, L., Wood, R., Weigel, K., & Cattamanchi, A. (2024). Consensus standard operating procedure for collection of tongue swabs for TB diagnostics. Protocols.io.
Nsubuga, G., Kennedy, S., Rani, Y., Hafiz, Z., Kim, S., Ruhwald, M., Alland, D., Ellner, J., Joloba, M., Dorman, S. E., Penn-Nicholson, A., & Nakiyingi, L. (2023). Diagnostic accuracy of the NOVA Tuberculosis Total Antibody Rapid test for detection of pulmonary tuberculosis and infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases, 31, 100362.
Khambati, N., Olbrich, L., Ellner, J., Salgame, P., Song, R., & Bijker, E. M. (2021). Host-Based Biomarkers in Saliva for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Children: A Mini-Review. Frontiers in pediatrics, 9, 756043.
Khambati, N., Song, R., MacLean, E. L., Kohli, M., Olbrich, L., & Bijker, E. M. (2023). The diagnostic yield of nasopharyngeal aspirate for pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC global and public health, 1(1), 18.
Ahls, C., David, A., Chilambi, G. S., Cattamanchi, A., de Vos, M., Heard, K., Heichman, K., Penn-Nicholson, A., Scott, L., Steadman, A. E., Turnbull, L., & Alland, D. (2024). Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra testing from tongue swabs – Diluted SR method. Protocols.io.
Nisreen Khambati, Kanyange Angel Moureen, Francesca Wanda Basile, Rudie Desravines, Nathan Mudrak, Rebecca Post, Emmanuel Nasinghe, Rutvi Upadhyay, Sandra Ruth Babirye, Stephannie Nabuduwa, Germine Nakayita, Farag Kakyama Luwambya, Malik Koire, Allen Nabisere, John Paul Lubega, Rose Nabirye, Margaretha de Vos, Adam Penn-Nicholson, Emily Douglass, Prossy Mbekeeka, Derek Armstrong, H Simon Schaaf, Megan Palmer, Eric Wobudeya, Soyeon Kim, Morten Ruhwald, David Alland, Susan E Dorman, Jerrold Ellner, Moses Joloba, Adeodata R Kekitiinwa, Else Margreet Bijker, Grace Paul Kisitu, Rinn Song, and the NOD-pedFEND Consortium. Oral Swab Testing With Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Children Aged <5 Years in Uganda: An Exploratory Interim Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy in the NOD-pedFEND Cohort, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Volume 12, Issue 4, April 2025, ofaf206.
Preprint Manuscripts
Kim, S., Can, M. H., Agizew, T. B., Auld, A. F., Balcells, M. E., Bjerrum, S., Dheda, K., Dorman, S. E., Esmail, A., Fielding, K., Garcia-Basteiro, A. L., Hanrahan, C. F., Kebede, W., Kohli, M., Luetkemeyer, A. F., Mita, C., Reeve, B. W. P., Silva, D. R., Sweeney, S., Theron, G., … Menzies, N. A. (2024). Factors associated with tuberculosis treatment initiation among bacteriologically negative individuals evaluated for tuberculosis: An individual patient data meta-analysis. medRxiv.
Can, M. H., Sweeney, S., Allwood, B. W., Dorman, S. E., Cohen, T., & Menzies, N. A. (2024). Implications of progressive lung damage and post-TB sequelae for the health benefits of prompt TB diagnosis in high HIV prevalence settings: a mathematical modeling analysis. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2024.08.12.24311198.
Chilambi, G. S., Reiss, R., Daivaa, N., Banada, P., De Vos, M., Penn-Nicholson, A., & Alland, D. (2024). Optimal processing of tongue swab samples for Mycobacterium tuberculosis detection by the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay. medRxiv.
Kim, S., Can, M. H., Agizew, T. B., Auld, A. F., Balcells, M. E., Bjerrum, S., Dheda, K., Dorman, S. E., Esmail, A., Fielding, K., Garcia-Basteiro, A. L., Hanrahan, C. F., Kebede, W., Kohli, M., Luetkemeyer, A. F., Mita, C., Reeve, B. W. P., Silva, D. R., Sweeney, S., Theron, G., … Menzies, N. A. (2024). Factors associated with tuberculosis treatment initiation among bacteriologically negative individuals evaluated for tuberculosis: An individual patient data meta-analysis. PLoS Med 22(1): 1004502.
Chilambi GS, Reiss R, Daivaa N, Banada P, De Vos M, Penn-Nicholson A, Alland D. Optimal processing of tongue swab samples for Mycobacterium tuberculosis detection by the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay. Microbiol Spectr. 2025 Mar 4;13(3):e0240324. doi: 10.1128/spectrum. 02403-24. Epub 2025 Jan 28. PMID: 39873526; PMCID: PMC11878016.
Basile FW, Bijker EM, Sekadde M, Dorman SE, Ellner JJ, Engel N, Ruhwald M, Song R. One step further: improving paediatric TB diagnosis through user-centred research approaches. IJTLD Open. 2024 Sep 1;1(9):425-427. PMCID: PMC11409169.
de Vos, Margaretha and Le, Hien and Marcelo, Danaida and Ajide, Bukola and Alí-Francia, Karla G. and Borkman, April L. and Desravines, Rudie and Chang, Hoang Thi and Dowling, Wentzel and Kamulegeya, Louis and Marconi, Sam and Moe, Caitlin and Rockman, Loren and Shuma, Brian and Christopher, Devasahayam Jesus and Hapeela, Nchimunya and Muyoyeta, Monde and Nakiyingi, Lydia and Theron, Grant and Ugarte-Gil, César and Nguyen, Hung Van and Van Luong, Dinh and Yu, Charles and Alland, David and Denkinger, Claudia and Ellner, Jerrold J. and Dorman, Susan E. and Kremer, Kristin and Manabe, Yukari and Nahid, Payam and Ruhwald, Morten and Shah, Maunank and Penn-Nicholson, Adam and Cattamanchi, Adithya and Bimba, John and Consortia, FEND-TB, R2D2 TB Network and SMART4TB/ADAPT, Diagnostic Accuracy of Tongue Swabs for Tuberculosis Using a Common Protocol for Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra Testing: A Multi-Country Assessment.
van Lieshout Titan, Ana and Dodd, Pete and Cohen, Ted and Menzies, Nicolas, The Potential Number of False-Positive and False-Negative TB Diagnoses in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Bayesian Analysis of Routine Reporting Data.
Conference Presentations
Chilambi, G. S., Reiss, R., Daivaa, N., Banada, P., De Vos, M., Penn-Nicholson, A., & Alland, D. (2024, November 14). Optimal processing of tongue swab samples for Mycobacterium tuberculosis detection by the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay [Conference presentation]. The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2024 – TB Science, Bali, Indonesia.
Mudrak, N., Khambati, N., Nasinghe, E., Basile, F., Nakayita, G., Mbekeeka, P., Penn-Nicholson, A., Ssengooba, W., Bijker, E. M., Kisitu, G. P., Kekitiinwa, A., & Song, R. (2024, November 15). Oral swab testing for the diagnosis of paediatric TB: An interim analysis of diagnostic accuracy in the NOD-pedFEND cohort [Conference presentation]. The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2024, Bali, Indonesia.
Mudrak, N., Nasinghe, E., Khambati, N., Mbekeeka, P., Douglass, E., Lubega, J. P., Nabirye, R., Allen, T., Kakyama, F. L., Koire, M., Nakayita, G., Penn-Nicholson, A., Ssengooba, W., Joloba, M., Bijker, E. M., Alland, D., Dorman, S., Ellner, J., Basile, F. W., Kisitu, G. P., Song, R., & Kekitiinwa, A. R. (2024, February 16). MTB positivity solely identified by Xpert Ultra on an oral cavity double-swab [Conference presentation]. 4th International Meeting on Childhood Tuberculosis, Barcelona, Spain.
Optimal processing of tongue swab samples for M. tuberculosis detection by the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay
Poster Presenter: David Alland (Newark, United States)
Held during the TBScience E-Poster Session: TBS-EP03 Fundamental advances in understanding pathogenesis | Part 1 (Nov 14, 12:15 – 2:15 PM)
Oral swab testing for the diagnosis of paediatric TB: An interim analysis of diagnostic accuracy in the NOD-pedFEND cohort
Oral Presenter: Nathan Mudrak (Oxford, United Kingdom)
Held during the C3: Maternal and child TB, Oral Abstract Session: 0A39 Optimising finding TB in children (Nov 15, 2:20 – 3:50 PM)
A cartridge-based assay for improved detection of multi-drug-resistant M. tuberculosis directly from sputum
Oral Presenter: David Alland (Newark, United States)
Held during the Oral Abstract Session: LB04 The Union-CDC late-breaker session (epidemiology and programmatic) (Nov 15, 4:10 – 5:40 PM)
Accuracy of a 3-Gene Host Response Cartridge for Diagnosis of TB Disease in Children Under 5
Oral Presenter: Nathan Mudrack (Oxford, United Kingdom)
Held during the ESPID
Updated August 2025