# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/tuberculosis-research-and-epidemiology/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology research in the Class of 2026?

Tuberculosis research in the Class of 2026 is driven by multidrug resistance, non-sputum diagnostics, and Global Burden of Disease analytics. Computational modeling (molecular dynamics) and non-human primate models grew sharply, while single-cell RNA sequencing declined, highlighting a shift toward non-invasive diagnostics and structural drug discovery.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 8,168 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, Drug susceptibility testing, Global Burden of Disease, Bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis, HIV-TB coinfection |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 32–104 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis | Keertan Dheda, Fuad Mirzayev, Daniela Maria Cirillo, Zarir Udwadia, Kelly E Dooley, Kwok-Chiu Chang, Shaheed Vally Omar, Anja Reuter, Tahlia Perumal, C Robert Horsburgh, Megan Murray, Christoph Lange | Keertan Dheda | University of Cape Town, South Africa | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | 104 | 10.1038/s41572-024-00504-2 |
| 2 | Classification of early tuberculosis states to guide research for improved care and prevention: an international Delphi consensus exercise | Anna K Coussens, Syed M A Zaidi, Brian W Allwood, Puneet K Dewan, Glenda Gray, Mikashmi Kohli, Tamara Kredo, Ben J Marais, Guy B Marks, Leo Martinez, Morten Ruhwald, Thomas J Scriba, James A Seddon, Phumeza Tisile, Digby F Warner, Robert J Wilkinson, Hanif Esmail, Rein M G J Houben, International Consensus for Early TB (ICE-TB) group | Hanif Esmail | The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Australia | The Lancet Respiratory Medicine | 95 | 10.1016/s2213-2600(24)00028-6 |
| 3 | Global, regional, and national burden of tuberculosis and attributable risk factors for 204 countries and territories, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Diseases 2021 study | Huafei Yang, Xinyi Ruan, Wanyue Li, Jun Xiong, Yuxin Zheng | Jun Xiong | Hangzhou Normal University, China | BMC Public Health | 81 | 10.1186/s12889-024-20664-w |
| 4 | Global, regional, and national age-specific progress towards the 2020 milestones of the WHO End TB Strategy: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 | GBD 2021 Tuberculosis Collaborators | GBD 2021 Tuberculosis Collaborators | University of Washington, United States | The Lancet Infectious Diseases | 73 | 10.1016/s1473-3099(24)00007-0 |
| 5 | Levofloxacin for the Prevention of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Vietnam | Greg J Fox, Nguyen Viet Nhung, Nguyen Cam Binh, Nguyen Binh Hoa, Frances L Garden, Andrea Benedetti, Pham Ngoc Yen, Nguyen Kim Cuong, Emily L MacLean, H Manisha Yapa, David W Dowdy, Nguyen Huu Lan, Elyse Guevara-Rattray, Pham Duc Cuong, Ori Solomon, Marcel A Behr, Ben J Marais, Steven M Graham, Dick Menzies, Nguyen Thu Anh, Guy B Marks | Greg J Fox | University of Sydney, Australia | New England Journal of Medicine | 57 | 10.1056/nejmoa2314325 |
| 6 | Levofloxacin Preventive Treatment in Children Exposed to MDR Tuberculosis | Anneke C Hesseling, Susan E Purchase, Neil A Martinson, Lee Fairlie, H Simon Schaaf, Joanna Brigden, Suzanne Staples, Diana M Gibb, Anthony Garcia-Prats, Francesca Conradie, Charlotte McGowan, Charlotte Layton, Elize Batist, Anne-Marie Demers, Samukelisiwe Nyamathe, Lisa Frigati, Rebecca Turner, Trinh Duong, James A Seddon | Anneke C Hesseling | Stellenbosch University, South Africa | New England Journal of Medicine | 56 | 10.1056/nejmoa2314318 |
| 7 | Tuberculosis — United States, 2023 | Paula M Williams, Robert H Pratt, William L Walker, Sandy F Price, Rebekah J Stewart, Pei-Jean I Feng | Paula M Williams | CDC, United States | MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report | 52 | 10.15585/mmwr.mm7312a4 |
| 8 | Type I IFN-mediated NET release promotes Mycobacterium tuberculosis replication and is associated with granuloma caseation | Chanchal Sur Chowdhury, Rachel L Kinsella, Michael E McNehlan, Sumanta K Naik, Daniel S Lane, Priyanka Talukdar, Asya Smirnov, Neha Dubey, Ananda N Rankin, Samuel R McKee, Reilly Woodson, Abigail Hii, Sthefany M Chavez, Darren Kreamalmeyer, Wandy Beatty, Joshua T Mattila, Christina L Stallings | Christina L. Stallings | Washington University School of Medicine, United States | Cell Host & Microbe | 48 | 10.1016/j.chom.2024.11.008 |
| 9 | Diagnostic yield as an important metric for the evaluation of novel tuberculosis tests: rationale and guidance for future research | Tobias Broger, Florian M Marx, Grant Theron, Ben J Marais, Mark P Nicol, Andrew D Kerkhoff, Ruvandhi Nathavitharana, Helena Huerga, Ankur Gupta-Wright, Mikashmi Kohli, Brooke E Nichols, Monde Muyoyeta, Graeme Meintjes, Morten Ruhwald, Rosanna W Peeling, Nitika Pant Pai, Nira R Pollock, Madhukar Pai, Adithya Cattamanchi, David W Dowdy, Puneet Dewan, Claudia M Denkinger | Claudia M. Denkinger | Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany | The Lancet Global Health | 47 | 10.1016/s2214-109x(24)00148-7 |
| 10 | Treatment of Psoriasis Patients with Latent Tuberculosis Using IL-17 and IL-23 Inhibitors: A Retrospective, Multinational, Multicentre Study | Tiago Torres, Andrea Chiricozzi, Luis Puig, Ana Maria Lé, Angelo Valerio Marzano, Paolo Dapavo, Esteban Dauden, Jόse-Manuel Carrascosa, Elizabeth Lazaridou, Gleison Duarte, André V E Carvalho, Ricardo Romiti, Natalia Rompoti, Laetitia Teixeira, Miguel Abreu, Elena Ippoliti, Carlo Alberto Maronese, Mar Llamas-Velasco, Eva Vilarrasa, Elena Del Alcázar, Athina-Ioanna Daponte, Marina Papoutsaki, Andrea Carugno, Francesco Bellinato, Paolo Gisondi | Tiago Torres | Centro Académico Clínico ICBAS - CHP, Portugal | American Journal of Clinical Dermatology | 40 | 10.1007/s40257-024-00845-4 |
| 11 | Global, regional and national trends in tuberculosis incidence and main risk factors: a study using data from 2000 to 2021 | Wentao Bai, Edward Kwabena Ameyaw | Wentao Bai | Lingnan University, Hong Kong | BMC Public Health | 38 | 10.1186/s12889-023-17495-6 |
| 12 | Tuberculosis in otherwise healthy adults with inherited TNF deficiency | Andrés A Arias, Anna-Lena Neehus, Masato Ogishi, Vincent Meynier, Adam Krebs, Tomi Lazarov, Angela M Lee, Carlos A Arango-Franco, Rui Yang, Julio Orrego, Melissa Corcini Berndt, Julian Rojas, Hailun Li, Darawan Rinchai, Lucia Erazo-Borrás, Ji Eun Han, Bethany Pillay, Khoren Ponsin, Matthieu Chaldebas, Quentin Philippot, Jonathan Bohlen, Jérémie Rosain, Tom Le Voyer, Till Janotte, Krishnajina Amarajeeva, Camille Soudée, Marion Brollo, Katja Wiegmann, Quentin Marquant, Yoann Seeleuthner, Danyel Lee, Candice Lainé, Doreen Kloos, Rasheed Bailey, Paul Bastard, Narelle Keating, Franck Rapaport, Taushif Khan, Marcela Moncada-Vélez, María Camila Carmona, Catalina Obando, Jesús Alvarez, Juan Carlos Cataño, Larry Luber Martínez-Rosado, Juan P Sanchez, Manuela Tejada-Giraldo, Anne-Sophie L'Honneur, María L Agudelo, Lizet J Perez-Zapata, Diana M Arboleda, Juan Fernando Alzate, Felipe Cabarcas, Alejandra Zuluaga, Simon J Pelham, Armin Ensser, Monika Schmidt, Margarita M Velásquez-Lopera, Emmanuelle Jouanguy, Anne Puel, Martin Krönke, Stefano Ghirardello, Alessandro Borghesi, Susanta Pahari, Bertrand Boisson, Stefania Pittaluga, Cindy S Ma, Jean-François Emile, Luigi D Notarangelo, Stuart G Tangye, Nico Marr, Nico Lachmann, Hélène Salvator, Larry S Schlesinger, Peng Zhang, Michael S Glickman, Carl F Nathan, Frédéric Geissmann, Laurent Abel, José Luis Franco, Jacinta Bustamante, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Stéphanie Boisson-Dupuis | Anna‐Lena Neehus, José Luis Franco, Jean‐Laurent Casanova | University of Antioquia UdeA, Colombia | Nature | 38 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07866-3 |
| 13 | Global prevalence and burden of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis from 1990 to 2019 | Hengliang Lv, Xin Zhang, Xueli Zhang, Junzhu Bai, Shumeng You, Xuan Li, Shenlong Li, Yong Wang, Wenyi Zhang, Yuanyong Xu | Wenyi Zhang, Yuanyong Xu | China Medical University, China | BMC Infectious Diseases | 36 | 10.1186/s12879-024-09079-5 |
| 14 | Bedaquiline-pretomanid-moxifloxacin-pyrazinamide for drug-sensitive and drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis treatment: a phase 2c, open-label, multicentre, partially randomised controlled trial | Muge Cevik, Lindsay C Thompson, Caryn Upton, Valéria Cavalcanti Rolla, Mookho Malahleha, Blandina Mmbaga, Nosipho Ngubane, Zamzurina Abu Bakar, Mohammed Rassool, Ebrahim Variava, Rodney Dawson, Suzanne Staples, Umesh Lalloo, Cheryl Louw, Francesca Conradie, Marika Eristavi, Anastasia Samoilova, Sergey N Skornyakov, Niyanda Elias Ntinginya, Frederick Haraka, George Praygod, Harriett Mayanja-Kizza, Janice Caoili, Vincent Balanag, Margareth Pretti Dalcolmo, Timothy McHugh, Robert Hunt, Priya Solanki, Anna Bateson, Angela M Crook, Stella Fabiane, Juliano Timm, Eugene Sun, Melvin Spigelman, Derek J Sloan, Stephen H Gillespie, SimpliciTB Consortium | Müge Çevik | University of St Andrews, United Kingdom | The Lancet Infectious Diseases | 36 | 10.1016/s1473-3099(24)00223-8 |
| 15 | CD4+ T cells re-wire granuloma cellularity and regulatory networks to promote immunomodulation following Mtb reinfection | Joshua D Bromley, Sharie Keanne C Ganchua, Sarah K Nyquist, Pauline Maiello, Michael Chao, H Jacob Borish, Mark Rodgers, Jaime Tomko, Kara Kracinovsky, Douaa Mugahid, Son Nguyen, Qianchang Dennis Wang, Jacob M Rosenberg, Edwin C Klein, Hannah P Gideon, Roisin Floyd-O'Sullivan, Bonnie Berger, Charles A Scanga, Philana Ling Lin, Sarah M Fortune, Alex K Shalek, JoAnne L Flynn | Sarah M. Fortune, Alex K. Shalek, JoAnne L. Flynn | Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, United States | Immunity | 35 | 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.08.002 |
| 16 | Exposure to Mycobacterium remodels alveolar macrophages and the early innate response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection | Dat Mai, Ana Jahn, Tara Murray, Michael Morikubo, Pamelia N Lim, Maritza M Cervantes, Linh K Pham, Johannes Nemeth, Kevin Urdahl, Alan H Diercks, Alan Aderem, Alissa C Rothchild | Dat Mai, Ana N. Jahn, Tara A. Murray, Michael Morikubo, Pamelia N. Lim, Maritza M. Cervantes, Linh K. Pham, Johannes Nemeth, Kevin B. Urdahl, Alan H. Diercks, Alan Aderem, Alissa C. Rothchild | Seattle Children's Research Institute, United States | PLoS Pathogens | 34 | 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011871 |
| 17 | Global, regional, and national burden of HIV-negative tuberculosis, 1990–2021: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 | Shun-Xian Zhang, Feng-Yu Miao, Jian Yang, Wen-Ting Zhou, Shan Lv, Fan-Na Wei, Yu Wang, Xiao-Jie Hu, Ping Yin, Pei-Yong Zheng, Ming Yang, Mei-Ti Wang, Xin-Yu Feng, Lei Duan, Guo-Bing Yang, Ji-Chun Wang, Zhen-Hui Lu | Ji-Chun Wang, Zhenhui Lu | Longhua Hospital, China | Infectious Diseases of Poverty | 34 | 10.1186/s40249-024-01227-y |
| 18 | Further analysis of tuberculosis in eight high-burden countries based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 data | Hengliang Lv, Longhao Wang, Xueli Zhang, Caixia Dang, Feng Liu, Xin Zhang, Junzhu Bai, Shumeng You, Hui Chen, Wenyi Zhang, Yuanyong Xu | Hui Chen, Wenyi Zhang, Yuanyong Xu | China Medical University, China | Infectious Diseases of Poverty | 33 | 10.1186/s40249-024-01247-8 |
| 19 | Specific CD4+ T cell phenotypes associate with bacterial control in people who ‘resist’ infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis | Meng Sun, Jolie M Phan, Nathan S Kieswetter, Huang Huang, Krystle K Q Yu, Malisa T Smith, Yiran E Liu, Chuangqi Wang, Sanjana Gupta, Gerlinde Obermoser, Holden Terry Maecker, Akshaya Krishnan, Sundari Suresh, Neha Gupta, Mary Rieck, Peter Acs, Mustafa Ghanizada, Shin-Heng Chiou, Purvesh Khatri, W Henry Boom, Thomas R Hawn, Catherine M Stein, Harriet Mayanja-Kizza, Mark M Davis, Chetan Seshadri | Mark M. Davis, Chetan Seshadri | Stanford University, United States | Nature Immunology | 32 | 10.1038/s41590-024-01897-8 |
| 20 | Propionate prevents loss of the PDIM virulence lipid in Mycobacterium tuberculosis | Claire V Mulholland, Thomas J Wiggins, Jinhua Cui, Catherine Vilchèze, Saranathan Rajagopalan, Michael W Shultis, Esmeralda Z Reyes-Fernández, William R Jacobs, Michael Berney | Michael Berney | Albert Einstein College of Medicine, United States | Nature Microbiology | 32 | 10.1038/s41564-024-01697-8 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) stands out as the core theme defining the Class of 2026 cohort (norm_freq 0.18), closely accompanied by drug susceptibility testing (0.10) and second-line regimen evaluations including bedaquiline and levofloxacin. Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 analytics (0.10) and key epidemiological parameters—such as age-standardized incidence rates and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)—form a major population-health cluster. Diagnostic innovation features prominently through non-sputum diagnostics (0.06), bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis (0.08), and molecular diagnostics (0.06), emphasizing rapid diagnostic turnaround time and point-of-care feasibility. Host-pathogen interaction and computational target discovery rely on molecular dynamics simulations (0.08), molecular docking, and host-directed therapy (0.06), alongside immunologic analyses targeting CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes. Non-human primate models (0.06) provide essential translational validation for emerging vaccines and therapeutics. Together, these thematic clusters illustrate a field concentrated on combating drug-resistant strains, refining non-invasive diagnostics, and accelerating host-targeted therapeutic discovery.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing the Class of 2025 and Class of 2026 cohorts reveals a marked shift toward computational structural biology, non-sputum diagnostics, and global epidemiological modeling. Molecular dynamics simulations experienced the largest fold-change expansion, quadrupling from a normalized frequency of 0.02 in 2023 to 0.08 in 2024 (fold change 4.00). Molecular docking, molecular diagnostics, and non-human primate model studies also grew substantially, each tripling in normalized frequency (fold change 3.00). Several major topics emerged as new entrants in 2024 with zero recorded top mentions in 2023, including Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, non-sputum diagnostics, transmission dynamics, host-directed therapy, and levofloxacin. Conversely, single-cell RNA sequencing saw a notable decline (fold change 0.40), and bedaquiline mentions moderated (fold change 0.57) as attention expanded to multi-drug second-line regimens. These shifts reflect a maturing paradigm that pairs high-resolution biophysical modeling with field-deployable non-invasive diagnostics and global burden assessment.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/tuberculosis-research-and-epidemiology/2026. Accessed 2026-07-24.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```