On September 15th, 2023, we were pleased to host Professor Ying Zhang from The First Affiliated Hospital of the Zhejiang University School of Medicine (FAHZU). Professor Zhang was invited by Professor Xinchun Chen of the Department of Medicine at Shenzhen University, to deliver a lecture titled “New progress and development direction of tuberculosis treatment” at the Shenzhen University Lihu Campus. This inspiring lecture formed part of the 

40th anniversary celebrations of Shenzhen University, which has included a series of academic activities. This lecture constituted the 1285th activity of the celebrations, and the 82nd lecture of the Shenzhen University Medicine Forum.

In his lecture, Professor Zhang discussed the progress made in developing new treatments for tuberculosis (TB). First, he gave an overview of the current clinical situation and problems with TB treatment alongside the origins and history of TB drug regimens. Professor Zhang then speculated on the advent of molecular detection technology and its application to studies on the mechanisms underlying anti-TB drug resistance. He also outlined to us the phenomenon of “persisters”, and presented data from two anti-TB drugs - pyrazinamide and clofazimine – that typically kill nonreplicating persisters that other TB drugs fail to kill. Here, he explained that persistence is highly related to chronic infection and disease recurrence, which explains the necessarily long duration of

disease treatment in affected patients. Finally, Professor Zhang discussed the development of new and repurposed drugs that should shorten the treatment course for patients with drug sensitive (DS)-TB and multidrug resistant (MDR)-TB, and speculated on the broader future directions in TB clinical research.

Professor Zhang's lecture was met with great interest and enthusiasm by all those attending. The atmosphere of the interactive session was particularly lively, as both teachers and students raised many insightful questions for Professor Zhang to address.