Now that scientists understand what triggers key steps in the immune response to menacing fungi such as Candida albicans, they hope to develop ways to make it work better.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Every year, fungal infections threaten thousands of patients — from those with depressed immune systems to others who have had surgeries or devices such as catheters implanted. Moreover, some anti-fungal medications are beginning to lose their power.(more…)
Dedicated, passionate and energetic, M.D./Ph.D. student Angel Byrd has earned many accolades and research opportunities. But she only recently won a young scientist’s most coveted prize: publication as lead author of a paper highly esteemed by her colleagues.
Well on her way to fulfilling her dreams both in research and medicine, Brown University M.D./Ph.D. student Angel Byrd nevertheless had recently begun to define herself by what was missing, said her adviser, Dr. Jonathan Reichner, associate professor of surgery (research) at Rhode Island Hospital. She still wasn’t a published author.
For years she had dedicated herself to studying how immune system cells capture invading fungal pathogens. Like those cells, called neutrophils, she had seized on seemingly every opportunity that had come her way. (more…)