Dean E. Schraufnagel, MD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, past president of the American Thoracic Society, past vice-president of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and a clinical and scientific expert in tuberculosis is available to discuss the ongoing global burden of tuberculosis on World TB Day (March 24, 2014). The annual World TB Day, started in 1982, aims to raise public awareness of TB, which kills an estimated 1.4 million people a year, mostly in developing countries. There are more than 8 million new cases of TB per year, which far exceeds the new cases of AIDS.

“Although progress has been made in addressing TB around the world, an estimated 3 million cases are still not being detected or treated, and drug-resistant TB, which is difficult and expensive to diagnose and treat, is common,” says Dr. Schraufnagel. “Addressing this urgent global public health issue begins with raising awareness of the scale of the problem.”

“Recent research has brought us new rapid diagnostic tests that reduce the delay in getting a TB diagnosis from days to hours. New drugs and effective vaccines are on the horizon. Now is the time to press forward.

Adequate funding from government agencies and other organizations can stop and eliminate this great scourge.”

In 2013, Dr. Schraufnagel testified before the House State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee urging adequate funding for USAID’s global tuberculosis program.

Dr. Schraufnagel received his MD from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and completed an internship/residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago and residency and research fellowships in Respiratory Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the American College of Chest Physicians Pulmonary Physician of the Future (1983), the National Institutes of Health Pulmonary Academic Award (1983-88), Best Doctors in America, Chicago Magazine's Chicago's Best Doctors, America’s Top Physicians, America's Best Doctors, Castle Connolly's Top Doctors in America, and the Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Attending of the Year (2000, 2004). Dr. Schraufnagel’s was an editor of Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine, 5th Edition. Other publications include:Schraufnagel DE. Chapter 44. Treatment of Tuberculosis in Madkour MM, Editor. Tuberculosis. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2004;781-799.

Schraufnagel DE, Abubakker J. Global action against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. [Letter] JAMA 2000; 283:54.

Schraufnagel DE. Tuberculosis: Moving from control to elimination: opportunities and obstacles. Editorial. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2000; 4:S107.

Schraufnagel DE. Tuberculosis elimination in the United States [editorial]. Chest 1990; 97:1283-1284.

Schraufnagel DE. Tuberculosis treatment for the beginning of the next century. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 1999; 3:651-662.

Accinelli Tanaka R, Mangura BT, Becx-Bleumink M, Nguyen NL, Boman G, O’Brien RJ, del Cir JJ, Prignot J, Fanning A, Whalen C, FitzGerald JM, Yazji R, Gilbert R, Zack E, Gondrie P, Zidouni N, Lowe O, Schraufnagel DE. Treatment regimens in HIV-infected tuberculosis patients. An official statement of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 1998; 2:175-178.

Past media appearances include CNN, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times,

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