We are delighted to present a podcast recording of an interview with Professor Ajit Lalvani to coincide with the TB special edition of Thorax in March. He describes the development of the FDA-approved, NICE and CDC-endorsed interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA, ELISpot, T-SPOT.TB) which he invented and validated as the first advance in diagnosis of latent TB in 100-years. He will discuss new findings using this assay published in the March issue of Thorax, and the prospects for improved immunodiagnostics in TB.

Professor Lalvani is a superstar in this field and has contributed greatly to the TB special edition of Thorax. He is the chair of infectious diseases, co-chairman of the Section of Respiratory Infection of the National Heart and Lung Institute, and honorary consultant physician at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, St Mary’s Campus. He is a Wellcome Trust senior clinical research fellow and NIHR senior investigator.