Each year, as many people die of fungal infections as of tuberculosis or malaria. Individuals at risk of contracting fungal infections include patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, undergoing cancer chemotherapy or organ transplantations and low-birthweight infants. Incidence rates of fungal infections are on the rise and so are the economic costs associated with life-threatening fungal infections due to the need for extended hospitalisations.

To mitigate the impact of fungal infections on human health and life, it is imperative to understand how fungi cause disease in humans. This will allow us identify suitable drug targets to effectively treat fungal infections. At Bristol's School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, we aim to understand how heat shock protein Hsp90, a regulator of the cell’s protein homeostasis, regulates fungal virulence and evolution. We employ a two-pronged approach by combining research into the basic biology of Hsp90 in fungi with targeted quests for novel drug targets as currently available antifungal therapies are either ineffective or riddled by the emergence of antifungal drug resistance.