In a new publication out today in PLOS Computational Biology, TIME Lab researchers show how engineering principles of mass balance and transport phenomena can be used to describe oxygen, nutrient, and drug delivery in pulmonary granulomas - abnormal masses of immune cells in the lung and the hallmark of infection by tuberculosis bacteria. Postdoctoral fellow Saeed Siri and undergraduate CBE student Mac Kennedy contributed to this work, demonstrating how simple and fundamental equations can accurately predict inhomogeneous penetration of antibacterial agents that agree with experimental results in animal models of the disease. The model reveals current limitations to treating this infection that affects 1/3 of the global population, and suggests alternative interventions for improving drug delivery to the site of disease.
