Jerry Cangelosi, PhD, leads a research team focused on pathogen detection and the epidemiology of infectious diseases.
Working with public and private collaborators across the globe, this team has generated 10 patents, two product launches, a start-up company, and over 100 publications on tuberculosis, non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), COVID-19, food- and water-borne pathogens, and health care-associated infections.
Our goal is to develop innovative tools that make it faster to detect active cases of infectious disease, safer for health care workers to collect samples, and enable mass sampling in community settings such as schools and workplaces.
Research
Oral swabs for tuberculosis detection: We have developed and validated an alternative method to test for tuberculosis (TB). TB is traditionally diagnosed by testing sputum, which patients cough up. Oral swabs, specifically tongue swabs, are faster and easier to use, and they can be collected from anyone, regardless of whether they have symptoms. In a ground-breaking announcement in February 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended tongue swab testing in situations where sputum cannot be collected.
Epidemiology of mycobacterial disease: We pioneered the use of real-time molecular epidemiology to help control tuberculosis outbreaks. We have investigated the spread of M. abscessus among cystic fibrosis patients and risk factors for pulmonary M. avium complex (MAC) disease in HIV-negative adults.
Molecular viability testing: We developed assays for specific bacterial RNA molecules called ribosomal RNA precursors (pre-rRNA). This method improves the detection of viable TB bacteria in samples from patients undergoing tuberculosis treatment.
Find the team’s complete publication list on PubMed.
Our team
Jerry Cangelosi
Lab Director
Rachel Wood
Research Scientist
Renée Codsi
Graduate Research Assistant
Alaina M. Olson
Research Scientist
Contact us
Cangelosi Lab
University of Washington School of Public Health
Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences
4225 Roosevelt Way NE
Box 354695
Seattle, WA 98195 United States
Self swab for tuberculosis screening research
Instructional videos on how to self swab for tuberculosis screening research
These videos are designed to guide researchers to collect samples and participants to swab themselves for TB screening research. These educational materials were co-created with our stakeholders. Through community-based participatory design methods, PhD student Renée Codsi worked with migrants in Italy and the healthcare workers who serve them on a user experience study. This information was shared with Copan Italia, who developed and manufactured the tongue swabs. This data guided Codsi’s development of educational materials in partnership with Copan Italia.