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IATB introduction

   

Introduction of the Innovation Alliance on Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment (Beijing)

In August 2016, the Innovation Alliance on Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment（hereinafter, the alliance）was founded on the initiative of the Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University with founding members including the Tianjin Haihe Hospital, Shannxi Provincial Hospital of Tuberculosis Control and Prevention as well as the Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital. As a non-gov and not-for-profit civil organization, the alliance operates under the jurisdiction of the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Authority. The membership of the alliance is mainly consisting of China’s TB designated hospitals, TB control and prevention institutions, scientific research institutions, industrial enterprises as well as other stakeholders involved in TB R&D and individual members. Now the alliance has grown to include 131 institution members including 88 TB designated hospitals, 43 industrial members and 761 individual members. Its operation scope is as following: theoretical research; scientific research; technological R&D; technological translation; market development; construction of big data repository; academic exchanges; consultation; philanthropic activities; publication of internally circulated materials; conferencing and exhibition; 3rd party commissioning; international cooperation.
Aspiration of the alliance is to be a pioneer in TB diagnostic and treatment technological innovation; a hatchery in promising TB technology translation and a facilitator in professional and academic exchanges.
Founding mission of the alliance is in short known as RITA, which stands for Research, Innovation, Translation and Application of promising technologies and tools on the road to End TB in China and beyond.
Under the leadership of a board and a secretariat, the alliance operates the following five departments, namely education and training, laboratory quality assurance, remote and online medical services, international cooperation and clinical research along with a nation-wide clinical trials consortium (the China Tuberculosis Clinical Trials Consortium).

  • The dept. of education and training undertakes the organization of a series of important TB related academic activities, including the annual National TB R&D Innovation Cooperation Forum; the annual forum of heads of TB designated hospitals; tour of IATB membership hospitals and enterprises. The dept. also plays an instrumental role in preparation and organization of the annual National TB Academic Conference organized by the Chinese Tuberculosis Society, Chinese Medical Association to name just few.
  • The dept. of laboratory quality assurance undertakes cross laboratory quality assurance works within the alliance’s membership hospitals. The dept. also undertakes clinical and real-world verification studies of novel TB in-vitro diagnostics technologies and products, conducts nation-wide TB laboratory diagnosis training activities, national level epidemiological survey of non-tuberculous mycobacterium diseases (NTM), provision of technical assistance to clinical studies carried out by the alliance.
  • The dept. of remote and online medical services is established to alleviate the regional differences of TB diagnosis and treatment capabilities; in doing so, the dept. oversees a number of different remote consultation and medical service platforms’ construction and maintenances. Currently the dept. is implementing the ‘CT4CT’multi disease screening project across China, the project utilizes mobile CT aided with AI diagnostic algorithms to realize the early detection of lung cancer, pulmonary TB and other pulmonary diseases.  
  • Dept. of international cooperation is actively involved in a number of prominent international TB academic and R&D activities, introducing the frontiers of international TB R&D back to China and the most promising of China’s indigenously developed TB diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to the world, especially low- and middle-income regions and countries with a high burden of TB. In 2024, The dept. successfully staged the very first exhibition and satellite session under the theme of ‘China Innovations Contribute to the End TB Targets’ in the Union Conference on lung Health in Bali, Indonesia, in which 6 Chinese manufacturers’ 12 TB IVD products were put on display, marked the very first attempt by Chinese industry and academia to showcase the potential of their technologies and products in making an impact on the international End-TB course. In October 2025, the dept. staged the First Sino-UK Traning Workshop on Tuberculosis Clinical Research Methodology and Practice for China's Young Investigators, the training workshop had become an instant success and set to become an important research capacity building fixture on China's TB research calendar.
  • Dept. of Clinical Research is responsible for organizing, conducting TB clinical research and capacity building activities, providing technical assistance to TB clinical trials implemented within the China Tuberculosis Clinical Trials Consortium network hospitals, and oversees the daily running of the consortium. This training workshop also represents a major upgrade in the dept. quest in clinical research excellence and capacity building.