Jennifer Hughes

Dr Jenny  Hughes,  a  TB  doctor  in  South  Africa working  with Doctors Without  Borders  (MSF), graduated  from  Cardiff University  in  Wales  in 2005. A few years later, she moved to South Africa to gain experience in a  different  healthcare setting. Witnessing  first-hand  the  devastating effects of TB on impoverished communities is what ignited her passion to treat patients  suffering from  this  curable  but  largely  neglected disease. Since  2010  she  has  worked  in  Khayelitsha, Western Cape,  where  MSF runs a strengthened regimen programme for drug-resistant TB patients that incorporates new drugs into their treatment.

Erica Lessem

As  Director  of  theTB/HIV  Project  at  Treatment Action  Group (TAG),  Erica Lessem  advocates for  improved  services  and technologies  to prevent, diagnose,  and  treat  TB  and  HIV.  In this  role,  Erica  supports  research activists   across   the   world, and   works   closely   with   developers   and policymakers  to catalyze  TB research  and  ensure  that  it  responds  to  the needs of affected communities. Previously, Erica worked on HIV behavioral research  studies, supported  efforts  to  end  sex trafficking  in South Asia, volunteered  for  the Baltimore CityNeedle Exchange Program,  was  a  grant writer for the TB Alliance, conducted press relations as an Urban Fellow  in the New  York City Department of Health  and  Mental  Hygiene,  and helped create the Republic of Georgia’s first peer support group for breast cancer survivors. Erica received Bachelor  of  Arts  in Spanish  and  Psychology from Georgetown  University,  and  her Master  of Public Health as a Sommer Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health.