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Professor Janet Quinn

My laboratory’s primary research focus is on stress-sensing and signalling mechanisms in human pathogenic fungi and their importance in virulence. We study a range of pathogenic Candida spp. including Candida albicans, Candida glabrata and Candida auris. In particular we are interested in the role of the evolutionarily conserved stress-activated MAPK pathways in promoting fungal virulence, and the diverse mechanisms employed by fungal pathogens to survive  the toxic reactive oxygen species generated by innate immune cells.  Recently, we have also become interested in phosphate acquisition strategies within C. albicans due to our recent findings linking phosphate homeostasis and stress resistance. We are also exploiting our knowledge of fungal stress signalling and nutrient acquisition pathways to design and perform high throughput screens for compounds that inhibit these vital virulence traits.