Biography
Dr. Shaheed Vally Omar is a Medical Scientist with a research focus on Mycobacterium tuberculosis with over 15 years of experience. He currently heads the Centre for Tuberculosis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases/NHLS (South Africa), which incorporated the National & Supranational TB Reference Laboratories. He leads diagnostic evaluations, drug resistance determination and surveillance using next-generation sequencing, molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis and the application of novel technologies for these purposes. He has contributed to national and global policy guidance and facilitated national implementation of new TB diagnostics for routine laboratory use.
Key Impacts
Bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid resistance among rifampicin-resistant M. tuberculosis strains in South Africa
Among the studied isolates, nearly a quarter were phenotypically resistant to multiple drugs within the BPaL regimen. Transmission of bedaquiline-resistant strains warrants particular attention.
Source: Conference 2024
Pooling sputum specimens of people at high risk of TB reduces costs of Xpert Ultra TB testing without compromising concordance (TUTTPlus Study)
Ultra-testing pooled sputum specimens is a cost-effective, accurate strategy for TB diagnosis, particularly pool sizes of 4 for PLWH and asymptomatic individuals. This approach could facilitate scalable TB testing in resource-limited settings, dependant on laboratory processes.
Source: Conference 2024