In 2025, The Union established the Early Career Researcher Award to recognise outstanding and promising research in tuberculosis and lung health.
The winner of the award, supported by Johnson & Johnson, was selected from the Student Late Breaker presenters at the Union World Conference on Lung Health 2025.
For the first time ever, the award was presented to Dr Jayne Ellis, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology clinician and a clinical lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who presented ‘TB and cytomegalovirus co-pathogenicity amongst adults with cryptococcal meningitis: A prospective cohort study’.
Jayne shares what it meant to win the Early Career Researcher Award, where she finds inspiration for her research, and what is next.
What did receiving this award mean to you, both personally and professionally?
"I was delighted to win the Early Career Researcher Award, which has enable me to come to Rio to present my ongoing research in the field of advanced HIV disease, tuberculosis and cytomegalovirus (CMV). This has provided a really valuable opportunity to my data more widely, exchange ideas with colleagues and build collaborations."
Early career researchers often face the challenge of balancing research, clinical work and career development. What has been the biggest lesson you have learned so far? What has helped you stay motivated?
"I think the best career advice I have received, and now try to share with others, is to remain flexible and allow yourself to be drawn towards the things you love. Research and clinical work can be demanding, so finding the areas that genuinely inspire you is really important. Building strong partnerships and learning from colleagues are also invaluable, and to cherish the role of mentorship."
How does presenting at the Union World Conference on Lung Health help your development?
"Presenting at the Union World Conference on Lung Health is always a pleasure, and I am very grateful for the valuable opportunity to share my research on tuberculosis, CMV and advanced HIV disease with a diverse international audience. I hope to receive feedback and critique for experts in the field, and look forward to exchanging ideas and developing new collaborations."
What inspired you to investigate TB and cytomegalovirus co-pathogenicity amongst adults with cryptococcal meningitis, and what do you hope the findings will ultimately mean for care and health outcomes?
"Over the past 10 years, I have undertaken clinical research into advanced HIV disease (AHD) in East and Southern Africa. Working on medical wards, I have witnessed persistently high mortality rates among hospitalised adults living with HIV, alongside a high prevalence of concurrent opportunistic infections (OIs).
"During my PhD, I systematically investigated the prevalence of key OIs among 450 hospitalised adults with AHD and cryptococcal meningitis through the implementation of an enhanced OI screening bundle. I found that more than 50% of study participants had either tuberculosis (TB) disease and/or CMV viraemia, and that both were associated with increased mortality. These findings suggest that TB disease and CMV viraemia may represent modifiable contributors to mortality in people hospitalised with AHD.
"My hope is that this research will help inform the design and evaluation of novel interventions, such as pre-emptive treatment of CMV viraemia, with the ultimate aim of reducing mortality among hospitalised adults living with AHD."
What is the next step in terms of your research?
"We are currently conducting the Medical Research Council funded NIRVANA trial in Uganda and South Africa. The NIRVANA trial is a phase 2b double blinded, placebo-controlled randomised control trial (RCT) to further evaluate the safety and virological efficacy of valganciclovir amongst hospitalised adults with AHD.
"Participants are randomised to receive valganciclovir for the management of CMV viraemia or placebo for 28 days. The primary endpoint is adverse events of special interest plus re-hospitalisation or death up to week eight.
"In a proposed parallel RCT (TACTIC) in Uganda and South Africa, we hope to determine whether a 28-day course of valganciclovir treatment for CMV viraemia reduces acute (six month) all-cause mortality compared to placebo in outpatients with AHD initiating or re-initiating antiretroviral therapy."
If this study showed that TB is associated with increased mortality, what needs to happen to address this?
"The IMPROVE cohort study demonstrated that, among 450 hospitalised adults with AHD and cryptococcal meningitis, 45% had evidence of concurrent active TB disease. Participants with TB disease had 70% higher odds of 18-week mortality than those without TB. These findings are consistent with other cohort studies from East and Southern Africa, which have highlighted the high prevalence of TB among hospitalised people living with AHD. TB remains a leading cause of hospital admission and death in this population.
"Despite this, TB disease frequently remains undiagnosed and untreated among hospitalised adults with AHD, contributing to preventable deaths.
"In the study I am presenting at the Union Conference 2026, we demonstrate that, within the same cohort of hospitalised adults with AHD and cryptococcal meningitis, early initiation of TB treatment during admission was associated with a 44% reduction in mortality. I hypothesise therefore, that empirical TB treatment initiated at the point of hospital admission could reduce mortality among adults with AHD; interventional trials to test this hypothesis are now planned."