The focus of the working group is on research into epidemiological and clinical aspects of TB, in particular long-term outcomes of TB infection and therapy (e.g. impairment of lung function, comorbidities and deaths) and on the identification of new markers for the prediction of TB cure or therapy failure.

In addition, the group is involved in the clinical evaluation of new TB diagnostics and new host-directed therapies to improve the pulmonary outcome of TB patients and actively contributes to TB research by organizing and conducting various multicentre and transnational projects (e.g. molecular epidemiology of TB using African samples, international TB cohorts, randomized controlled trials on new therapeutic markers and HDTs, etc.).

The working group also deals with various long-term consequences (cardio-pulmonary, neurological and socio-economic) of COVID-19 disease, and conducts studies on the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and the prevalence of COVID-19 disease in various African cohorts.