About
The Experimental Tuberculosis Unit (UTE) is an IGTP research group associated to the Microbiology Department of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital (HUGTIP) and the Genetics and Microbiology Department of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The group is led by Dr Cris Vilaplana, and is accredited by AGAUR (2021 SGR 00920). The mission of the group is to improve the life of TB patients by achieving faster and better diagnosis, better clinical management, better treatments and better disease outcomes. Its vision is to have a great impact in the fight against TB while also being competitive at an international level.
Keywords: Tuberculosis, microbiology, infectious diseases, clinical studies, clinical trials, prognosis, therapeutics, experimental models, immunology, lung surgery, drug development, vaccine development, health-related quality of life.
Group leader
- Cristina Vilaplana Massaguer
Cristina Vilaplana Massaguer
Dr Cristina Vilaplana is a physician and principal investigator at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) and the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hsopital (HUGTiP) in Badalona, where she leads the Experimental Tuberculosis Unit (UTE). With more than 15 years of experience in tuberculosis research, she has established a line of work spanning from preclinical experimental models to randomised clinical trials, including longitudinal cohort studies with unique collections of biological samples. She has led and coordinated competitive European projects - including the SMA-TB project, funded by the European Commission - and has built a network of international collaborations with leading centres across Europe, Africa and the Caucasus. She serves as Chair of the Tuberculosis Care Committee at HUGTiP and coordinator of the hospital's TB plan, as well as advisor to the HUGTiP Clinical Research Committee. Widely recognised in the field of tuberculosis, Dr Vilaplana is Secretary-Elect of the Tuberculosis and Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria Group within Assembly 10 of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), and member of the board of trustees of the Fundació Unitat d'Investigació en Tuberculosi de Barcelona (FUITB) and ACTMON.
Contact: cvilaplana(ELIMINAR)@igtp.cat
ORCID: 0000-0002-2808-7270
Research lines
Study of biomarkers and tools for monitoring TB disease course and prognosis
The lack of a validated correlate of protection and reliable biomarkers to monitor disease progression or predict prognosis remains one of the main barriers to optimal clinical management of tuberculosis (TB). The group works to identify and validate biomarkers capable of monitoring treatment response and predicting disease progression, therapeutic outcomes and long-term sequelae -including post-TB lung disease (PTLD) and secondary infections.
To support this research, the group leads several longitudinal cohort studies that have enabled the development of a large and unique collection of biological samples -including lung tissue, blood and urine- with high translational potential. This infrastructure, combined with expertise in the transcriptomics of human tuberculous lesions, plasma biomarkers and quantitative radiological indices such as RTBES, positions the team to address TB prognosis from multiple dimensions. The group has also developed a patient stratification algorithm based on routine clinical data, capable of predicting multidimensional treatment outcomes and identifying patient subgroups that may benefit from specific interventions -a tool with direct applications in optimising clinical trials and personalised clinical management.
Study of health dimensions and quality of life in the context of infectious diseases
TB is a disease deeply shaped by socioeconomic factors and closely linked to vulnerable populations. Based on the premise that the different dimensions of health -physical, social, emotional and environmental- are interconnected, and that changes in one dimension affect the others, the group aims to understand not only TB as a disease, but also the individual affected by it in all their complexity.
The group actively contributes to international consensus on mental health management in the context of TB care and studies the impact of the disease on patients' quality of life throughout treatment and follow-up. In addition, it carries out community outreach activities to raise awareness of TB and reduce diagnostic delays, with active participation from patients and the wider community, and with particular attention to socioeconomically disadvantaged areas and vulnerable populations -including active screening studies in migrant populations.
Evaluation of new prophylactic and therapeutic strategies against TB
The Experimental Tuberculosis Unit (UTE) has accumulated more than 15 years of experience in the evaluation of new prophylactic and therapeutic strategies against TB, both in experimental models (in vivo, in vitro and in silico) and in clinical trials. This trajectory has consolidated the UTE as an international reference centre in the field, with participation in and coordination of consortia funded by the European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as contracts with research centres and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
One notable example is the SMA-TB project, a European clinical trial coordinated by the UTE, which evaluated host-directed therapy (HDT) strategies in TB -including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as acetylsalicylic acid and ibuprofen as adjunctive treatment in TB- first in a pilot clinical trial and subsequently within the framework of a multicentre international consortium funded by the European Commission (SMA-TB). The group has demonstrated capacity to lead and coordinate randomised clinical trials in the field of TB and has access to a broad portfolio of animal models and associated services. Its access to the unique facilities of the Comparative Medicine and Bioimage Centre of Catalonia (CMCiB) and the Department of Microbiology at the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital provides a key asset for translational and preclinical research. The group has also evaluated heterologous vaccination strategies, such as the RUTI vaccine vaccine, both in TB and in other indications.
Active projects
New Research and Innovation on Tuberculosis: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment
PI: Pere-Joan Cardona
Funding agency: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES)
Agency code: CB06/06/0031
Start date: 2016
Desarrollo y Validación de una Firma Transcriptómica para el Diagnóstico de la Tuberculosis Extrapulmonar
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Agency code: PI25/01582
Duration: 2026 – 2028
ITHEMYC: Novel immunotherapies for tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases
PI: Pere-Joan Cardona
Funding agency: European Commission
Agency code: proposal nº 101080462-2
Duration: 2023 - 2026
VALIDATE Pump Priming grant 2024 (P070)
PI: Alba Llibre; Collaborator: Cristina Vilaplana
Supported by the VALIDATE Network, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-031830) and the Medical Research Council (MR/Y000773/1)
Duration: 2025 – 2026
Past projects
Towards a better understanding and control of tuberculosis
PI: Pere-Joan Cardona
Funding agency: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES)
Agency code: CIBERESTB2325
Duration: 2023 - 2025
Búsqueda de biomarcadores pronósticos para personalizar el tratamiento de la tuberculosis
PI: Cristina Vilaplana
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Agency code: PI20/01424
Duration: 2021 - 2023
Estudio de las bases biológicas de la susceptibilidad a la tuberculosis según el sexo. Importancia del eje hipotalámico-pituitarioadrenal
PI: Pere-Joan Cardona
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Agency code: PI20/01431
Duration: 2021 - 2023
EpiPose: Epidemic intelligence to minimize COVID-19's public health, societal and economical impact
PI: Cristina Vilaplana
Funding agency: H2020 - European Commission
Agency code: 101003688
Duration: 2020 - 2023
SMA-TB: A novel Stratified Medicine Algorithm to predict treatment responses to host-directed therapy in TB Patients. (H2020-SC1-BHC-2018-2020)
PI: Cristina Vilaplana
Funding agency: European Commission
Agency code: GA 847762
Duration: 2020 - 2024
Fomentar la unitat social, esborrar l'estigma de la tuberculosi
Funding agency: CONDIS
Agency code: Campanya d'arrodoniment
Duration: 2024-2025
Unitat de Tuberculosi Experimental
PI: Cristina Vilaplana
Funding agency: Agencia de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris de Recerca (AGAUR)
Agency code: 2021 SGR 00920
Duration: 2022 - 2025
Scientific Grant: 1st Mycobacterial Youth Congress (MYCO)
PI: Cristina Vilaplana
Funding agency: The Company of Biologists
Agency code: EA1442
Duration: 2025
In Silico Trial for Tuberculosis Vaccine Development (STRITUVAD)
Co-PI: Pere-Joan Cardona
Funding agency: H2020-SC1-2017-CNECT-2 - European Commission
Agency code: 777123
Duration: 2018 - 2022
Programme for the progressive substitution of laboratory animals in the Center for Comparative Medicine (IGTP) (CMCiB-3R)
PI: Pere-Joan Cardona
Funding agency: La Caixa
Agency code: LCF/PR/GN17/50300003
Duration: 2018 - 2022
Ajuts Margarita Salas Modalitat de 2 anys
PI: Cristina Vilaplana
Funding agency: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Agency code: 720452
Duration: 2022 - 2024
Scientific publications
Highlighted publications
Fonseca KL, Lozano JJ, Despuig A, Habgood-Coote D, Sidorova J, Aznar D, Arias L, Del Río-Álvarez Á, Carrillo-Reixach J, Goff A, Wildner LM, Gogishvili S, Nikolaishvili K, Shubladze N, Avaliani Z, Tapia G, Rodríguez-Martínez P, Cardona PJ, Martinón-Torres F, Salas A, Gómez-Carballa A, Armengol C, Waddell SJ, Kaforou M, O'Garra A, Vashakidze S, Vilaplana C. Unravelling the transcriptome of the human tuberculosis lesion and its clinical implications. Nat Commun. 2025 May 30;16(1):5028. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60255-w.
Melkie ST, Arias L, Farroni C, Jankovic Makek M, Goletti D, Vilaplana C. The role of antibodies in tuberculosis diagnosis, prophylaxis and therapy: a review from the ESGMYC study group. Eur Respir Rev. 2022 Mar 9;31(163):210218. DOI: 10.1183/16000617.0218-2021.
Arias L, Cardona P, Català M, Campo-Pérez V, Prats C, Vilaplana C, Julián E, Cardona PJ. Cording Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacilli Have a Key Role in the Progression towards Active Tuberculosis, Which is Stopped by Previous Immune Response. Microorganisms. 2020 Feb 8;8(2):228. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8020228.
Prats C, Vilaplana C, Valls J, Marzo E, Cardona PJ, López D. Local Inflammation, Dissemination and Coalescence of Lesions Are Key for the Progression toward Active Tuberculosis: The Bubble Model. Front Microbiol. 2016 Feb 2;7:33. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00033.
Additional information
Collaborative networks
- CIBERES (ISCIII). Group CB06/06/0031
- COST Action CA21164 (financed by European Commission’s Horizon Europe). More information
- TBnet. More information
- VALIDATE. More information
- CTVD (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). More information
- Study Group on Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC) of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Doctoral theses
Title: Avaluació d'eines per a un maneig assistencial més personalitzat, integral i eficaç per a les persones amb tuberculosi (Evaluation of tools for a more personalized, comprehensive, and effective care management for individuals with tuberculosis)
Author: Arantxa Romero Tamarit
University: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Genetics and Microbiology Dept.
Date of defense: 11/12/2023
Outreach
Members of the UTE promoted "Amenaça Tuberculosi", the first cooperative board game specifically designed to raise awareness and communicate key concepts about tuberculosis. The project combines education and entertainment to bring complex scientific concepts closer to the general public, explain how the disease is transmitted and treated, and help reduce the social stigma associated with tuberculosis.
The game was tested with secondary and sixth-form students, showing an improvement in knowledge about tuberculosis through a participatory and accessible experience. The initiative has been presented at conferences and science outreach activities, and has attracted interest from several educational centres across Catalonia, consolidating its role as an innovative health gamification tool.
News
IGTP researchers take part in the 8th edition of #científiques bringing science closer to schools
For the fourth consecutive year, researchers from IGTP are taking part in the #científiques initiative, bringing science closer to schools and creating female role models in the framework of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February).
IGTP in 2025: 12 selected news stories
We look back at the year's most significant news stories, showcasing the dedication and collaboration that define IGTP.
Contact
(+34) 93 033 0527
Laura Villegas
More links
UTE Blog · Follow @tbexperimental on X · Follow Cristina Vilaplana on LinkedIn · Donate via Amics de Can Ruti, marcadors pronòstics · Donate via Amics de Can Ruti, projecte RESIL