Research_
FungiSphere
One Planet | One Health
Our node promotes collaborative and innovative cross-disciplinary research on pathogentic fungi.
Our core group includes researchers from medical microbiology, clinical research, veterinary agricultural science, environment and life sciences, epidemiology and pharmacy and lead FungiSphere research themes in fungal biology, ecology and epidemiology, food security, pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance.
Our current projects include:
- A One Health investigation of agricultural azole fungicides as drivers of antifungal resistance in pathogens of humans, animals and plants, funded by Sydney Institute of Agriculture and led by Fungisphere researchers
- Antifungal drug discovery research leading to the identification of a new drug target and several potential inhibitors, led by Julie Djordjevic
- Research into the effect of antimicrobial treatment on human gut mycobiomes, led by early-career researcher Vanessa Marcelino
- Development of hydrophobic antifungal compounds that can be aerosolised for use in treatment of pulmonary fungal infections, such as Aspergillosis, led by Philip Kwok (Pharmacy)
- Investigation of environmental Aspergillus fumigatus in Vietnam to understand azole resistance and cryptic species in the Mekong Delta, led by Justin Beardsley
- Functional genomic analysis and DNA barcoding of pathogenic fungi for understanding fungal virulence and development of diagnostics, led by Wieland Meyer
Leadership Team
FungiSphere Node coordinator, Justin Beardsley, is an early career clinical researcher and infectious diseases specialist. His PhD studies on fungal infections were undertaken at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and he continues to collaborate with researchers in Vietnam, the University of Sydney and the UK on clinical, health security and One Health projects.
Key publications:
- Beardsley J, Halliday C, Chen S, Sorrell T (2018) Responding to the emergence of antifungal drug resistance: Perspectives from the bench and the bedside. Future Microbiology, 13(10), 1175-1191
- Meyer W, Irinyi L, et al (2019). Database establishment for the secondary fungal DNA barcode -Translational Elongation Factor 1α (TEF1α). Genome, 62(3), 160-169
- Beardsley J, Hoang N, et al. (2019). Do intra-cerebral cytokine responses explain the harmful effects of dexamethasone in HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis? Clinical Infectious Diseases 68(9): 1494-150.
