Advancing Tuberculosis Vaccines in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Harnessing Innovative Strategies for Effective Protection

Tuberculosis (TB) has long been a formidable health challenge globally, and despite the successes of the BCG vaccine and antibiotic treatments, the disease continues to cause substantial mortality. The concurrent crises of HIV, drug-resistant TB strains, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, have only intensified the urgency to innovate within this field. The recent swift advances in COVID-19 vaccine technology offer a beacon of hope and a blueprint that TB vaccine development might follow. This scenario invites a renewed focus on pioneering research to create effective TB interventions and decrease the global disease burden.

This Research Topic aims to utilize the momentum gained from modern vaccinology to overcome the specific challenges faced in developing TB vaccines. These challenges range from inadequate animal models that fail to accurately mimic human TB pathology to the complexities involved in clinical trials. This research seeks to deepen our understanding of TB immunology, discover new antigens, enhance vaccine formulations and delivery methods, and create innovative approaches to vaccine trials. The ultimate goal is to lay the groundwork for transformative TB vaccines that can significantly reduce the worldwide impact of the disease.

To gather further insights in TB vaccine development, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

Development and validation of new animal models for a realistic representation of human TB pathology.
Insights into BCG and innate trained immunity derived from COVID-19 research.
Exploration of cutting-edge technologies, including mRNA vaccine platforms, for TB prevention.
Discovery and evaluation of new antigens that could potentially elevate vaccine efficacy.
Research on novel adjuvant formulations to boost immune responses.
Comparative studies on different vaccine delivery methods, with a focus on mucosal immunization.
Investigations into correlates of protection to forecast vaccine success and guide design strategies targeting at-risk populations.
Development of innovative tools for vaccine evaluation, such as CHIMs and in-silico models.
We encourage contributions in the form of commentaries, opinions, review articles, and original research that explore these topics, discuss the complexities of TB vaccine development, and contribute to global efforts aimed at developing impactful TB vaccines.

Keywords: Tuberculosis, vaccine, protective immunity, animal models, antigen discovery, adjuvants, delivery

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.