UI Leads International Research into Nutrition-Based TB Prevention
Indonesia is not merely a research site but is actively contributing scientific leadership, from formulating research questions and protocols to designing and conducting the study alongside international and national partners.
Depok (ANTARA) – Universitas Indonesia (UI) is leading international research into tuberculosis (TB) prevention among household contacts of TB patients. The study is expected to strengthen the scientific evidence underpinning TB prevention strategies in Indonesia and globally.
UI Vice-Rector for Research, Innovation, Students and Alumni Hamdi Muluk said at the Depok campus on Monday that universities have a strategic role in producing research capable of addressing complex health challenges.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Health has officially launched the Prevention of Household Tuberculosis with Optimal Nutrition (PHOTON) study.
Hamdi said UI’s involvement in PHOTON demonstrated the university’s commitment to producing scientific evidence that can support research-based policymaking.
Indonesia currently ranks second among countries with the highest TB burden worldwide, with more than one million new cases each year.
“This is the first study of this scale to be carried out, making it a significant achievement for Indonesia. We are proud to contribute robust evidence through a scientific approach to support policymaking,” Hamdi said.
PHOTON was prompted by the need for stronger scientific evidence on the relationship between nutritional status and the risk of TB.
Rina Agustina, director of the Center for Global Resilience in Health and Nutrition (C-GRHEN) and PHOTON’s principal investigator in Indonesia, said nutritional interventions could serve as a complementary strategy to protect vulnerable groups and help accelerate TB elimination.
UI, through C-GRHEN, will lead the research in Indonesia in collaboration with the Summit Institute for Development (SID), Siklus Indonesia and the University of Oxford.
In Tanzania, the study is being led by the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR). The research is funded by the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Rina said PHOTON was significant not only because of its scale, but also because it demonstrated Indonesia’s active role in global scientific leadership.
“Indonesia is not merely a research site but is actively contributing scientific leadership, from formulating research questions and protocols to designing and conducting the study alongside international and national partners,” she said.