A Narrative Review of the Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis International Consortium: Sharing Diverse Data and Specimens in the Fight Against Tuberculosis

Abstract Background Clinical tuberculosis (TB) research has been hampered by a lack of reliable predictors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection progression and active TB treatment's cure, relapse, and failure. Given host and bacterial variability, large sample sizes from harmonized datasets are needed to study infrequent endpoints. Therefore, global observational research consortia, such as Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT) International (RI), can help make meaningful inroads into successful TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Methods RePORT International was created in 2012 by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with bilateral country funding. The Consortium's country networks (Brazil, India, Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, South Africa, and Uganda) use a common protocol to recruit for 2 participant cohorts (active TB and close contacts). A coordinating center, led by a multinational executive committee, provides early-stage investigator research and mentorship opportunities, guidance on quality-assured data and specimen collection, and scientific direction while allowing networks to pursue geographically relevant research and implementation. Results Consortium biorepositories house 632 000+ specimens with associated epidemiological data from ∼11 900 participants. There have been 67 country- and consortium-wide projects via multiple funding sources, resulting in about 200 publications covering epidemiology, drug resistance, biomarkers, comorbidities, transcriptomics, diagnostics, and immunology. Capacity building is conducted through research fellowships and collaborations with other consortia including with a public resource database and data/specimen dashboard. Conclusions Public health research has had funding limitations on ideal patient enrollment and follow-up, as well as the maintenance of research infrastructure and personnel. However, RI is well prepared to meet these challenges while supporting better point-of-care diagnostics, screening for asymptomatic TB, post-TB care, and successful treatment outcomes.