NEWS AND EVENTS

The Fungal Kingdom: Diverse and Essential Roles in Earth's Ecosystem
In this recent American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) colloquium report, experts in mycology, medicine, plant pathogens, and ecology discuss the current state of research in mycology and explore the roles fungi play in the world around us.
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Ellis Awarded Hartwell Foundation Fellowship
Terri N. Ellis, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in the Kuehn lab, has been awarded a $100,000 postdoctoral fellowship at Duke from The Hartwell Foundation of Memphis, Tennessee. Ellis' work is helping medical science understand how to stimulate the immune system against pediatric pneumonia and infections associated with cystic fibrosis.
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Hsueh Receives Genetics Society of America (GSA) DeLill Nasser Award
Yen-Ping Hsueh, a graduate student in the Heitman lab, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, was selected to receive a Genetics Society of America (GSA) DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics
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Evolution of the Sexes: What a Fungus Can Tell Us
Fungi don't exactly come in boy and girl varieties, but they do have sex differences. In fact, a new finding from Duke University Medical Center shows that some of the earliest evolved forms of fungus contain clues to how the sexes evolved in higher animals, including that distant cousin of fungus, the human.
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Marchuk and Perfect Selected as 2007 Fellows of AAAS
Douglas Marchuk, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and co-director of the University Program in Genetics and Genomics (UPGG); and John Perfect, MD, professor in the Departments of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, and director of the Duke University Mycology Research Unit (DUMRU) have been selected as 2007 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general federation of scientists.
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Fowler Receives Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)/Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Special Recognition Award in MRSA
Vance Fowler, Jr., MD, MHS, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected to receive an Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)/Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Special Recognition Award in MRSA.
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Williams Receives Southeast Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense (SERCEB) Award
Kristi L. Williams, PhD, an assistant research professor in the Departments of Cell Biology and Immunology at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected to receive a Southeast Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense (SERCEB) Award to study NLR genes and anthrax.
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St. Geme and Abraham Elected 2007 Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM)
Dr. Joseph St. Geme, III, professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics and professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, and Dr. Soman Abraham, associate professor in the Department of Pathology, at the Duke University Medical Center have been selected as a 2007 Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM).
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Valdivia Selected as 2007 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases
Raphael Valdivia, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University Medical Center was selected as a 2007 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases.
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Duke Honors Distinguished Professor, Joseph St. Geme III
Duke University has awarded distinguished professorships to 22 faculty members, including Joseph St. Geme, III, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics and professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. St. Geme was awarded a James B. Duke professorship, which was established in memory of James B. Duke, founder of the Duke Endowment, and is awarded to select tenured faculty who demonstrate outstanding scholarship.
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Walton Receives Edward C. Horn Memorial Prize
Felicia Walton, an undergraduate student majoring in biology and chemistry at Duke University, was awarded the Edward C. Horn Memorial Prize for Excellence in Biology.
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Chen and Yang Receive 2007 Dean's Summer Research Fellowships
Lydia Chen and Julie Yang, undergraduate students in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University Medical Center, have been invited to participate in the Dean's Summer Fellowship Program. in support of undergraduate research and inquiry in the arts and sciences this summer.  
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Steinbach Receives American Society of Transplantation Grant
William Steinbach, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected to receive an American Society of Transplantation grant in the amount of $80,000.
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Valdivia Receives Merck Irving S. Sigal Memorial Award
Raphael Valdivia, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected to receive the Merck Irving S. Sigal Memorial Award from the ASM for 2007. Dr. Valdivia is honored for his established record of creative and independent research in the area of molecular and cellular microbiology.
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Steinbach Receives Children's Miracle Network Grant
William Steinbach, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected to receive a Children's Miracle Network Grant in the amount of $50,000 for his proposed study: Calcineurin Inhibition to Prevent and Treat Invasic Aspergillosis.
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Reconstructing the Early Evolution of Fungi Using a Six-Gene Phylogeny
This article, written by several authors including Rytas Vilgalys, PhD, professor in the Department of Biology and Francois Lutzoni, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Biology, Duke University, presents readers with the concept that the ancestors of fungi are believed to be simple aquatic forms with flagellated spores, similar to members of the extant phylum Chytridiomycota (chytrides).
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Two Take Home Prestigious Scholarships
Two seniors have received prestigious postgraduate scholarships to study in the British Isles. Felicia Walton and Jimmy Soni have been awarded the Marshall Scholarship and the George J. Mitchell Scholarship, respectively. The Marshall Scholarship provides two years of study at universities in the United Kingdom, and the Mitchell Scholarship supports one year of postgraduate study at an Irish institution.
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Walton Discovers New Genes
Although Cryptococcus neoformans can make people sick, to Felicia Walton, senior undergraduate student at Duke University with majors in biology and chemistry, the fungus is also a work of art when captured in a through-the-microscope image.
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Why a Mutant Fungus is Blind
The gene whose mutation renders a fungus "blind" to light has been discovered by Duke University Medical Center researchers. They said their finding -- which solves a genetic mystery four decades old -- could give basic insights into how organisms sense and respond to environmental signals.
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Nielsen Receives ASM Women's Career Development Award
Kirsten Nielsen, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University Medical Center, has received a 2006 ASM Women's Career Development Award.
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Schell Receives Medical Mycological Society of the Americas' Billy H. Cooper Award
Wiley Schell, MS, an assistant research professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health and Director of the Medical Mycology Research Center at the Duke University Medical Center at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected by the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas to receive the Billy H. Cooper Award for excellence in clinical research, laboratory diagnostic procedures, and teaching.
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Fowler Receives Ruth and A. Morris Williams Faculty Research Prize
Vance Fowler, MD, MHS, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected to receive the fifth annual Ruth and A. Morris Williams Faculty Research Prize.
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Walton Receives 2006 Dean's Summer Research Fellowship
Felicia Walton, an undergraduate student in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University Medical Center, has been invited to participate in the Dean's Summer Fellowship Program in support of undergraduate research and inquiry in the arts and sciences this summer.  
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Walton Receives 2006 ASM Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF)
Felicia Walton, an undergraduate student majoring in biology and chemistry at Duke University, has been awarded ASM's Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) for the 2005-2006 academic year.
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Hull Receives Merck Irving S. Sigal Memorial Award
This year's second Merck Irving S. Sigal Memorial Award is presented to Christina M. Hull, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Departments of Biomolecular Chemistry and Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.  Dr. Hull is being honored for her significant contributions to understanding the basic biology of microbes. 
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Four Duke Students Win Goldwater Scholarships
Four Duke University students have been selected for Goldwater Scholarships for the 2006-07 academic year. The scholarship program is designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.
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Patel Appointed to HHMI Summer Scholars Program
Sweta Patel, an undergraduate student in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University Medical Center, has been invited to participate in the Howard Hughes Summer Scholars program this summer.  
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Chlamydia Escapes Defenses By Cloaking Itself With Lipids
Duke University Medical Center microbiologists have discovered that the parasitic bacteria Chlamydia escapes cellular detection and destruction by cloaking itself in droplets of fat within the cell.
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Same-Sex Mating by Fungi Spawned Infection Outbreak, Evidence Suggests
Same-sex mating between two less harmful yeast strains might have spawned an outbreak of disease among otherwise healthy people and animals on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
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CO2 Sensing Proves Critical for Fungal Pathogens to Adapt to Life in Air and Human Hosts
By using pathogenic fungi as model systems for understanding fungal diseases, two groups of researchers are reporting new work that offers insight into how carbon dioxide (CO2) governs the morphogenic changes that allow pathogenic fungi to survive in different environments.
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Novel Plague Virulence Factor Identified
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified a previously unknown family of virulence factors that make the bacterium responsible for the plague especially efficient at killing its host. More ...

Joseph St. Geme to Lead Duke Pediatrics
Joseph St. Geme, III, M.D., professor of pediatrics and molecular microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine, has been named chair of the department of pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center.
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Microbes Mix it Up: Prokaryote-Eukaryote Promiscuity Shuffles the Gene Pool
A recently published study on horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to fungi by Charles Hall, a post-doctoral fellow, and Fred S. Dietrich, an assistant professor, in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University Medical Center was highlighted in both the ASM News and on the Faculty of 1000 web site.
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Scientists Decipher Genome of Fungus that Causes Life-Threatening Infections
In a project that already has benefited an important field of biomedical research, scientists have deciphered the genomes of two closely related strains of Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungus whose importance as a human pathogen has risen in parallel with the HIV/AIDS worldwide epidemic and the increased use of immunosuppressive therapies.
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Aballay Receives 2005 ICAAC Young Investigator Award
Alejandro Aballay, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University Medical Center, was selected by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) to receive the 2005 ICAAC Young Investigator Award. More ...