Author Archives: G Collender

World TB Day: Exploring new ways to fight a deadly menace

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This post was contributed by Arundhati Maitra, an associate research fellow, Department of Biological Sciences

World TB Day on 24 March marks the day in 1882 when Robert Koch discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of one of the most dreadful infectious diseases known to man – tuberculosis (TB). This year, on 21 March, Dr Sanjib Bhakta (Academic Head and Director of the Mycobacteria Research Laboratory, Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck) chaired a conference organised by EuroSciCon which raised the question – ‘Mycobacterium tuberculosis…Can we beat it?’ The event at The Royal College of Pathologists brought together several great minds in the field of TB research in the UK and from around the world.

The conference began with an introduction to the raging issues in TB management. Dr Bhakta emphasised the fact that an integrative approach is essential to target the various physiological states the germ can exist in inside an infected patient: active state, causing full blown infection, and the latent state, also called persisters, lying dormant within the patient.  

In 1993, WHO reported TB as a global health emergency. The disease continues to remain a serious threat to mankind 20 years on.  Though the TB incidence rates remain constant in the Eurozone, rates in the cosmopolitan cities in the UK such as London, Manchester, etc. speak of a different story. In 2011 the number of TB cases reported in London was higher than that of reported AIDS cases.

In a hard-hitting presentation, Professor Graham Bothamley of Homerton University Hospital, UK, remarked that the failure to contain the disease is largely due to the lack of political commitment and roadblocks in health care delivery. A survey across Europe showed that not only are drugs unavailable in some regions, but the regimens followed in various countries do not follow the tested, WHO approved guidelines, putting many lives at risk.

The essential requirements to lessen the burden of TB are twofold – speedy and accurate diagnostics and development of novel drugs and treatment regimens.  

Diagnosis by sputum microscopy and culture tests are the predominant methods of TB detection. Professor Mike Barer from the University of Leicester reported an interesting finding which could have far reaching effects in latent TB detection. His group has recently discovered that sputum analysis, usually used to detect active infection could also give an insight to the level of persister population in the patient by detecting presence of lipid bodies in the bacteria.

Though remarkable, this still doesn’t answer the need for a rapid and accurate means of TB detection. That is what Christopher Granger, Director of Oxford Immunotech Ltd claimed to have achieved. He described the T Spot TB test, a simple test based on ELISpot assay, which is more specific than the regular tuberculin skin test, detects latent infection and is time as well as cost-effective. However, Dr Jayne Sutherland from the MRC Unit in Gambia mentions that a simple dip-stick test that can be available at the point-of-care is essential in the areas with highest incidences of TB. She described how many of the clinics are in remote areas and can only be referred to as ‘bush clinics’, lacking necessary infrastructure for TB detection. Her team is engaged in developing lateral flow based tests, something similar to the pregnancy test kits available today.

New diagnostic equipment to detect TB is being developed at the University of Amsterdam by Ngoc Dang. It detects biomarkers of lipid origins by thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation followed by gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. This equipment, when available, would have positive implications in areas where a large number of samples need to be tested.

Moving on to drug development and treatment strategies, Professor Stephen Gillespie of the University of St Andrews discussed several new anti-tubercular drugs and shorter treatment regimens in various phases of clinical trials. He also emphasised the need to develop predictive models for regimens as newer drugs are being discovered.

Detection of targets specific to the infectious agent is essential for the development of novel drugs. A couple of these targets were discussed by Dr Luke Alderwick from Birmingham University and Professor Edith Sim from Kingston University. While Dr Alderwick focussed on a cell wall synthesising enzyme, DprE1 and its inhibitor benzothiazinone (BTZ), Dr Sim focussed on enzymes essential for the bacteria’s survival within host cells, N-acteyl transferase and HsaD. Dr Brian Henderson from UCL described the role of proteins that have more than one specific function (moonlighting proteins) in virulence of these bacteria and suggested that these could be potential targets.

A common theme was observed in presentations by Dr Anthony R.M. and Professor Tim Mc Hugh. Both were strong proponents for the need to monitor the progress of treatment in the earlier stages rather than the current practice of 18 months on. The former explained a ‘treat to test’ strategy following the belief that upon starting of treatment an initial burst of dead cells makes for easy detection of the kinetics of the response of the host to treatment. The latter suggested the use of various biomarkers obtained from the bacteria and the host such as colony counts to assess bacterial load, bacterial RNA and small RNA from the host, to indicate the effectiveness of the treatment and likelihood of a relapse.

An interesting Q&A session began with a question regarding the importance of point-of-care diagnostics and was led by Dr Bhakta to touch on the other issues plaguing TB management today. Dr Juan D Guzman from ISMB, Birkbeck was asked to comment on the scaffolds found in natural and synthetic compounds that are especially effective as anti-tubercular drugs.

Poster presentations were invited and the top prizes went to Ngoc Dang, University of Amsterdam for her work on TB diagnostics and Dr Tulika Munshi from ISMB, Birkbeck, for her poster on ATP-dependant Mur ligases as novel therapeutic targets for TB drug development (http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060143).

On the whole, the conference was one step towards defeating TB as interdisciplinary research, collaborations and alliances are urgently required to fight this menace.

Exploring race, racism and international development

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This post was contributed by Anna Marry, Communications Manager, London International Development Centre (LIDC) .  

Race, Racism and Development book cover

Race, racism and development book cover

Contesting what is often taken for granted in international development is important, but rare. That’s why I found this book launch for Race, racism and development very refreshing and different.It was also a truly intercollegiate event on a truly interdisciplinary topic.

On 29 January 2013 the London International Development Centre (LIDC), a consortium of the five Bloomsbury Colleges, and Birkbeck’s Department of Geography, Environment and Development Studies organised a book launch  for Race, racism and development: Interrogating history, discourse and practice (Zed Books) by Dr Kalpana Wilson, Visiting Lecturer at Birkbeck and LSE Fellow in Gender Theory, Globalisation and Development. The event was hosted by the Institute of Education (IOE) and chaired by Dr Parvathi Rahman from the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS, with Firoze Manji, CODESRIA(Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa), as discussant.

Kalpana Wilson’s motif for writing the book was a silence she observed about race in international development discourse, what she called ‘the whiteness of development’ – white experts talking about what should be done. Rather than simply advocating measures to change the personnel of development institutions, Kalpana set out to examine questions of structural racism in development. She was interested in how ideas of race legitimise certain power relations, looking both at history (e.g. the anti-colonial movement in India) and the present, for instance the war on terror. Kalpana’s focus in writing the book was on how ideas get incorporated and transformed in public narratives of race. Recently we can observe what she refers to as the ‘racialisation of hunger’ – poverty and hunger are essentially associated with Asia and Africa, both with respect to material relations and representation.

Gender is important too. Not so long ago ‘Third World’ women were pictured as helpless and needing to be saved. Now that image has changed, they are finally seen as agents, but to the other extreme, as  entrepreneurial, hard-working and altruistic to the point of being superhuman. And yet the idea of political agency is still associated with the global North.

Firoze Manji, in his discussant’s comments, described development as a sophisticated euphemism that Kaplana deconstructs and links to other ‘forbidden’ words like racism and liberalism. There is no such thing as poverty, claimed Manji, only impoverishment, and this is what we call ‘development’ . ‘Development’ is in fact about exploiting the South, with NGOs playing the role of new colonisers. Kalpana also takes apart what Manji referred to as ‘the pornography of development’, portraying the developing world in a pessimistic, exaggerated way that is meant to shock. Manji argued that in a post-colonial, globalised world we are now experiencing a shift in defining who we are and who the ‘other’ is, but it is nevertheless useful to keep the colonial past fresh in our minds.

The lively discussion that followed raised issues about Marxism; the idea of the innocent, unspoilt South that needs to be saved; gender; the deserving and undeserving poor; the racialisation of corruption,; and the need to delegitimise the NGOs.

This event was different in a very refreshing way. It provided an open platform for examining and contesting what is often taken for granted in international development. It allowed radical ideas to be expressed and engaged with. I was talking to a SOAS student of Development Studies over a drink after the presentations, who said: “At SOAS we learn how to be critical of governments and international organisations. But this is new – that NGOs can also be a destructive power in international development.”

Whether that statement is true or not depends on one’s perspective, but one thing is certain – the event revealed a new dimension and a new way of thinking about international development. And that’s always a good thing.

Civil liberties under threat

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This post was contributed by Guy Collender from Birkbeck’s Department of External Relations

Legal experts analysed and challenged the controversial police tactics used against protestors in the UK as part of Law on Trial at Birkbeck. 

The lawyers emphasised the role of protest throughout history, and argued that heavy-handed policing and cuts to legal aid are undermining dissent. The police, it was predicted, are likely to increase their use of stop-and-search powers during the Olympics this summer. The presentations largely focused on kettling – confining demonstrators to a small area – and the response of the authorities to occupations. 

Professor Bill Bowring, of Birkbeck’s School of Law and the International Secretary of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, chaired the public event on 19 June as part of Law on Trial – a week-long series of legal talks. He began by explaining the School’s progressive and critical approach to the study of law. Bowring said: “We do not take law for granted as something that comes down from above with some sort of divine status. We interrogate it.”

Kat Craig, a solicitor at Christian Khan and Vice-chair of the Haldane Society, continued by highlighting how dissent has played a “fundamental and crucial role” in changing society for the better, including gaining the right for women to vote. However, she pointed out that current major cuts to legal aid and the exclusion of certain areas of protest law from such support are undermining access to justice.

Craig spoke about representing protestors engaged in litigation against state bodies, including the police and Home Office. In particular, she mentioned cases against the police use of kettling, which has become commonplace during demonstrations, including student protests, in recent years. She said: “Kettling is indiscriminate. I am firmly of the view that kettling is an infringement of Article 5 [the right to liberty and security of person, European Convention on Human Rights]. The House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights have disagreed, both saying that kettling is not a breach of Article 5.

Owen Greenhall, a pupil barrister at Garden Court Chambers and an Executive Committee member of the Haldane Society, referred to protestor occupations during his presentation. He briefly outlined the history of such events, from the Greensboro sit-ins at segregated food counters in North Carolina in the 1960s to the more recent protests in London in Parliament Square and outside St Paul’s Cathedral.

Greenhall highlighted the trend towards by-laws restricting certain activities in high-profile places, and the difficulty of challenging these new rules. For example, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 includes provisions for a “constable or authorised officer” to stop protestors engaging in “prohibited activities”, including using “amplified noise equipment”, erecting tents and using “sleeping equipment” in Parliament Square. A similar by-law has also been passed in relation to Trafalgar Square.

During the question and answer session, concerns were expressed by Craig about the likely increase in the use of stop-and-search in East London during the Olympics.

Listen to the audio recording of the presentations

Last summer’s riots centre stage during Law on Trial

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This post was contributed by Guy Collender from Birkbeck’s Department of External Relations

The fear was tangible. Office workers scurried home early, shops were boarded up, and watching the nightly news became a habit borne out of anxiety. Are the riots still spreading? When will order return to the streets?

The rioting in England last summer sparked much soul-searching. Is our society broken? Can we expect more looting and violence on our streets? Or were the activities of those four nights last August an aberration?

Politicians, the police, commentators and the rioters themselves quickly rushed to varying conclusions to explain what caused the outbreak of civil disorder, which quickly spread across London and to other cities, including Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Manchester. David Cameron spoke about “criminality, pure and simple”, Ken Clarke blamed a “feral underclass”, and others blamed the police, government cuts, inequality and marginalisation for causing the anger and violence that erupted during those summer evenings.

All these issues and the drama of the riots were re-visited during a talk at Birkbeck about a pioneering research project to understand the lives and motivations of the young people out on the streets, and fill the void left by the absence of a major official public enquiry. The talk on 20 June was one of the highlights of Law on Trial – a week-long series of events organised by Birkbeck’s School of Law about crime, order and justice.

Professor Tim Newburn, of LSE, explained how the unusual and rapid research collaboration between The Guardian and LSE (funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation) began, and he shared its findings based on one-to-one interviews with 270 people involved, or close to, the riots.

Newburn summarised the results of the Reading the Riots study, which were printed in The Guardian last December. The majority of those involved in the riots were young (65% were between the ages of 10-20); 79 per cent were male, and their main activities were identified as follows: anti-police (24 per cent), looting (40 per cent), criminal damage (14 per cent), and as observers (22 per cent).

The rioters’ accounts revealed how many regarded the events as exciting (“the best three days of my life”), an opportunity to loot, and a way of expressing their widespread anger and hostility towards the police. Many of the young people also spoke about poverty, austerity and the lack of opportunities. Of the adults prosecuted for rioting, 35 per cent of them were claiming out-of-work benefits (as compared to 12 per cent within the working age population).

Newburn said: “It has come to an extremely bad position where young people talk about this [the riots] as an exciting opportunity. The sheer widespread mass looting that occurred is of a completely different order.”

Emphasising that “there is no simple explanation” for the riots, Newburn listed a range of reasons, including a “broad sense of disenchantment”, “a substantive experience of social marginalisation”, and “a sense of diminishing opportunities in modern England.” He also warned that riots are “more, rather than less, likely” in future because the conditions that caused them in the first place are still present, and may even be deteriorating. Almost 40 per cent of those interviewed said they would get involved again in future. This is a sobering thought indeed, especially as the eyes of the world will be focused on London this summer during the Olympics.

Results from the second phase of the Reading the Riots study, based on interviews with police officers, defence lawyers, victims and vigilantes, are to be published in The Guardian in early July.