James C.M. Brust, M.D.

Dr. Brust is a Professor of Medicine, with joint appointments in the Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. He graduated from the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University and completed both a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Columbia University Medical Center.

Dr. Brust's research is focused on the dual epidemics of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) and HIV in South Africa. With multiple US and international collaborators, his multidisciplinary research group is studying treatment outcomes of MDR TB/HIV co-infected patients, transmission patterns of drug-resistant TB, pharmacology of new and repurposed TB medications, and genetic mechanisms of drug-resistance. He has funding from NIAID to examine the emergence of resistance to the new TB medication bedaquiline in patients with MDR and XDR TB. He is also the PI of a randomized clinical trial to determine if therapeutic drug monitoring for linezolid can prevent toxicity and premature discontinuation in patients with rifampin-resistant TB in South Africa.

Dr. Brust is a practicing infectious diseases subspecialist and maintains an active patient panel in the Montefiore Center for Positive Living/Infectious Diseases Clinic. He currently serves on multiple state and national guidelines committees related to the management of HIV and tuberculosis.

1. Brust JCM, Gandhi NR, Carrara H, Osburn G and Padayatchi N. High Treatment Failure and Default Rates for Patients with MDR TB in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 2000-2003. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2010;14(4):413-9
2. Brust JCM, Shah NS, Scott M, Chaiyachati K, Lygizos M, van der Merwe TL, Bamber S, Radebe Z, Loveday M, Moll AP, Margot B, Lalloo UG, Friedland GH, Gandhi NR. Integrated, home-based treatment for MDR-TB and HIV in rural South Africa: an alternate model of care. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2012; 16:998-1004.
3. Brust JCM, Shah NS, van der Merwe TL, Bamber S, Ning Y, Heo M, Moll AP, Loveday M, Lalloo UG, Friedland GH, Gandhi NR. Adverse events in an integrated, home-based treatment program for MDR-TB and HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2013; 62:436-440.
4. Gandhi NR, Brust JCM, Moodley P, Weissman D, Heo M, Ning Y, Moll AP, Friedland GH, Sturm W, Shah NS. Low M. tuberculosis strain diversity among multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis isolates from Tugela Ferry, South Africa, 2005-2006. Emerg Infect Dis 2014; 20(3):394-401.
5. Shah NS, Auld S, Brust JCM, Mathema B, Ismail N, Moodley P, Mlisana K, Allana S, Campbell A, Mthiyane T, Morris N, Mpangase P, Vally Omar S, Brown T, Narenchania A, Shaskina E, Kapwata T, Kreiswirth B, Gandhi NR. Transmission of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa. N Engl J Med 2017; 376(3):243-253
6. Brust JCM, Shah NS, Mlisana K, Moodley P, Allana S, Campbell A, Johnson BA, Master I, Mthiyane T, Lachman S, Larkan L-M, Ning Y, Malik A, Smith JP, Gandhi NR. Improved survival and cure rates with concurrent treatment for MDR-TB/HIV co-infection in South Africa. Clin Infect Dis. 2018; 66(8):1246-1253.
7. Wasserman S, Denti P, Brust JCM, Abdelwahab M, Hlungulu S, Wiesner L, Norman J, Sirgel FA, Warren RM, Esmail A, Dheda K, Gandhi NR, Meintjes G, Maartens G. Linezolid pharmacokinetics in South African patients with drug resistant tuberculosis and a high prevalence of HIV co-infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2019 63(3):e02164-18
8. Meintjes G, Brust JCM, Nutall J, Maartens G. Management of active tuberculosis in adults with HIV. Lancet HIV 2019; 6: e463–74
9. Smith JP, Gandhi NR, Shah NS, Mlisana K, Moodley P, Johnson BA, Allana S, Campbell A, Nelson KN, Master I, Brust JCM. The impact of concurrent antiretroviral therapy and MDR-TB treatment on adverse events. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2020; 83(1):47-55
10. Ngwalero P*, Brust JCM*, van Beek SW, Wasserman S, Maartens G, Meintjes G, Joubert A, Norman J, Castel S, Gandhi NR, Denti P, McIlleron H, Svensson EM, Wiesner L. Relationship between plasma and intracellular concentrations of bedaquiline and its M2 metabolite in South African patients with rifampin-resistant TB. Antmicrob Agents Chemother. 2021; 65(11):e0239920. doi: 10.1128/AAC.02399-20
11. Brust JCM, Gandhi NR, Wasserman S, Maartens G, Omar SV, Ismail NA, Campbell A, Joseph L, Hahn A, Allana S, Hernandez-Romieu AC, Zhang C, Mlisana K, Viljoen CA, Zalta B, Ebrahim I, Franczek M, Master I, Ramangoaela L, Te Riele J, Meintjes G; PROBeX Study Team. Effectiveness and cardiac safety of bedaquiline-based therapy for drug-resistant tuberculosis: a prospective cohort study. Clin Infect Dis. 2021; 73(11):2083-2092
12. Wasserman S, Brust JCM, Abdelwahab MT, Little F, Denti P, Wiesner L, Gandhi NR, Meintjes G, Maartens G. Linezolid toxicity in patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis: a prospective cohort study. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2022; 77(4):1146-1154.
13. Haas DW, Adbelwahab MT, van Beek SW, Baker P, Maartens G, Bradford G, Ritchie MD, Wasserman SW, Meintjes G, Beeri K, Gandhi NR, Svensson EM, Denti P, Brust JCM. Pharmacogenetics of between-individual variability in plasma clearance of bedaquiline and clofazimine in South Africa. J Infect Dis. 2022; 226(1):147-156.
14. van Beek, SW, Tanneau L, Meintjes G, Wasserman S, Gandhi NR, Campbell A, Viljoen CA, Wiesner L, Aarnoutse RE, Maartens G, Brust JCM*, Svensson EM*. Model-predicted impact of ECG monitoring strategies during bedaquiline treatment. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022. 27;9(8):ofac372. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofac372).
15. Brown TS, Tang L, Omar SV, Joseph L, Meintjes G, Maartens G, Wasserman S, Shah NS, Farhat MR, Gandhi NR, Ismail N, Brust JCM*, Mathema B*. Genotype-phenotype characterization of serial Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in bedaquiline-resistant tuberculosis. Clin Infect Dis. 2024; 78(2):269-276.
16. Vongjarudech T, Dosne A-G, Remmerie B, Dooley KE, Brust JCM, Maartens G, Meintjes G, Karlsson MO, Svensson EM. Time varying QT interval correction accounting for change in heart rate in patients treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2025; 65(4):107460.