Suman Laal, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pathology and Microbiology
Director, AIDS International Training and Research Program
Research Microbiologist, Manhattan Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Immunology / Immunol. and Mol. Biol. of Mycobacteria, Opportun. infection in HIV disease
suman.laal@med.nyu.edu, (212) 263 4164 , (212) 263 6769
Fax: (212) 951 6321
423 East 23rd Street, VET 18123N, New York, NY 10010
Research and Clinical Interests
We have 2 goals: 1) to devise an accurate, affordable diagnostic test for TB through work with promising antigens identified by immunological, proteomic and molecular approaches. 2) to understand how the inhaled M. tuberculosis bacilli adhere and enter the pulmonary cells, establish infection and disseminate. We have identified novel proteins expressed by the in vivo M. tuberculosis during the early asymptomatic stage of the infection; their role in the host-pathogen interaction is studied.
Selected Publications
Steingart KR, Henry M, Laal S, Hopewell PC, Ramsay A, Menzies R, Cunningham J, Wldingh K, Pai M. A systematic review of commercial serological antibody detection tests for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Thorax. 2007;62:911-918. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 17675320.
Steingart KR, Henry M, Laal S, Hopewell PC, Ramsay A, Menzies R, Cunningham J, Weldingh K, Pai M. Commercial serological antibody detection tests for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review. PLoS Medicine. 2007;4:1-20. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 17564490.
Achkar JM, Dong Y, Holzman RS, Belisle J, Kourbeti IS, Sherpa T, Condos R, Rom W, Laal S. M.tuberculosis Malate Synthase/MPT51-based serodiagnostic assay as adjunct to rapid identification of pulmonary tuberculosis. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2006;13:1291-3. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 17090645.
Sartain MJ, Slayden RA, Singh KK, Laal S, Belisle JT. Disease state differentiation and identification of tuberculosis biomarkers via native antigen profiling. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2006;5:2102-13. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 16899542.
Kinhikar AG, Vargas D, Li H, Mahaffey SB, Hinds L, Belisle JT, Laal S. Mycobacterium tuberculosis malate synthase is a laminin binding adhesin. Mol Microbiol. 2006;64:999-1013. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 16677310.
Singh KK, Dong Y, Patibandla SA, McMurray DN, Arora VK, Laal S. Immunogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE55 (Rv3347c) protein during incipient and clinical Tuberculosis. Infect Immun. 2005;73:5004-14. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 16041015.
Singh KK, Dong Y, Belisle JT, Harder J, Arora VK, Laal S. Antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis recognized by antibodies during incipient, subclinical tuberculosis. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2005;12(2):354-8. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 15699433.
Singh KK, Dong Y, Hinds L, Keen MA, Belisle JT, Zolla-Pazner S, Achkar JM, Nadas AJ, Arora VK, Laal S. Combined use of serum and urinary antibody for diagnosis of TB. J Infect Dis. 2003;188:371-7. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 12870118.
Singh KK, Zhang X, Chien P, Laal S. Antigens of M. tuberculosis expressed during early TB: Immmundominance of Repetitive Proteins. Infect Immun. 2001;69:4185-91. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 11349098.
Samanich KM, Belisle JT, Laal S. Homogeneity of Antibody responses in Tuberculosis. Infect Immun. 2001;69:4600-9. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 11402004.
Samanich KM, Keen MA, Vissa VD, Harder JD, Spencer JS, Belisle JT, Zolla-Pazner S, Laal S. Serodiagnostic potential of culture filtrate antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Clin Diag Lab Immunol. 2000;7:4:662-8. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 10882669.
Samanich KM, Belisle JT, Sonnenberg MG, Keen MA, Zolla-Pazner S, Laal S. Delineation of human antibody responses to culture filtrate antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Infect Dis. 1998;178:1534-8. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 9780282.
Laal S, Samanich KM, Sonnenberg MG, Belisle JT, O'Leary J, Simberkoff MS, Zolla-Pazner S. Surrogate marker of pre-clinical tuberculosis in HIV infection: Antibodies to an 88 kDa secreted antigen of M. tuberculosis. J Infect Dis. 1997;176:133. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 9207359.
Selected Books
Laal S. New Diagnostic Techniques: Clinical Relevance. In: Arora VK, editor. Practical Approach to Tuberculosis Management. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers; 2006. pp. 361-371.
Laal S, Skieky Y. Immune Based Methods of Diagnosis. In: Cole ST, Gicquel B, McMurray DN, Eisenach KD, Jacobs WR, editors. Tuberculosis and the Tubercle Bacillus. Second Edition. Washington DC: ASM Press; 2004. pp. 71-84.
Laal S. Immunodiagnosis. In: Rom WN, Garay SM, editors. Tuberculosis. Second Edition. New York: Lippincot Williams & Wilkins; 2003. pp. 185-192.
Laal S. Humoral Responses to M. tuberculosis. In: Rom, W.N. and S. M. Garay, editors. Tuberculosis. Boston: Little, Brown and Co; 1996. pp. 335.
Zolla-Pazner S, Laal S, Burda S, Buchbinder A. Human monoclonal antibodies to HIV-1 define synergistic activities leading to enhanced neutralization. In: Antibiotics and Chemotherapy. Advanced Technologies in Research, Diagnosis and Treatment of AIDS and Oncology. Basel: Karger; 1994. pp. 38.
Laal S, Zolla-Pazner S. Epitopes of HIV-1 glycoproteins recognized by the human immune response. In: Norrby E, editor. Chemical Immunology. Basel: Karger; 1993. pp. 91.
Nath I, Laal S. Immunofluorescence as a tool for investigation of granulomatous disease. In: Madhvan M, editor. Immunodiagnostic Procedures in Laboratory Medicine. Madras: Graphico Associates Press; 1987. pp. 80.
Organizational Associations
Consultant, Blood Products Advisory Committee, FDA; Member, UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Program for a Systematic Review of TB; WHO Consultant, Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR)
