Description:
Fungi are everywhere. They’re present in the air, in our food, some even live inside our bodies. But most of us rarely think about diseases caused by fungi. This is because our defences do a really good job in keeping them in check.
However for millions of people whose immune system are defective fungi can cause serious infections that are hard to treat and can be life threatening.
A group of cells called phagocytes play a key role in keeping us safe from fungi. They normally patrol our body so when there’s a breach they are the first to respond. Their function is to seek eat and destroy microbial intruders.
But no all fungi are alike. My Ph.D. project aims to understand how phagocytes tackle such different targets. So far I have found there are huge differences in the rate at which various different fungi are engulfed by phagocytes.
The speed of these processes depends on the chemical composition of the fungi, whether they are alive or dead, and whether they are coated with human proteins that help to mark them as intruders.
Understanding the basic biology behind these processes is the first step towards developing new treatment strategies.
Maria Fernanda Alonso works in Professor Neil Gow’s lab at the University of Aberdeen.
Medical and Patient education videos
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Description
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Talk by Gilbert Massard – at the Aspergillosis for Patients meeting in Rome, Feb 3rd 2010
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Talk by David Andes – at the Aspergillosis for Patients meeting in Rome, Feb 3rd 2010.
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Talk by Brahm Segal – at the Aspergillosis for Patients meeting in Rome, Feb 3rd, 2010.
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Talk by David Denning – at the Aspergillosis for Patients meeting in Rome, Feb 3rd, 2010.
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Talk by Russell Lewis – at the Aspergillosis for Patients meeting in Rome, Feb 3rd, 2010.
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An introduction to this meeting by Dr Geoffrey Scott, Consultant Microbiologist.
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Talk by Rick Moss – at the Aspergillosis for Patients meeting in Rome, Feb 3rd, 2010.
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Talk by Malcolm Richardson – at the Aspergillosis for Patients meeting in Rome, Feb 3rd, 2010, with specific references to aspergillus.
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Opening of the UK’s first National Centre for Aspergillosis was marked by a series of short talks from Doctors, Scientists and Patients.
