When Maribel Navarro Mendoza, PhD, arrived at Duke University as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGM), she was driven by a fascination with how fungal pathogens evolve and evade treatment. Today, that work has helped launch an internationally recognized research program and earned her one of Europe's most prestigious early-career research awards.
Navarro Mendoza, who trained in the laboratory of Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, from 2020 to 2024, recently received a 2026 European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for her project, to support her research into how individual nuclei within multinucleate Mucorales fungi contribute to infection and resistance to antifungal drugs. The work was also selected as one of only three projects highlighted by the ERC from among 421 funded starting grants across Europe.
Currently an assistant professor at Miguel Hernández University in Spain, Navarro Mendoza will soon establish her laboratory at the Universidad de Murcia as a Ramón y Cajal Fellow in the Department of Genetics and Microbiology. The project builds directly on research directions she began developing during her postdoctoral training at Duke.
"My time in MGM was fundamental to my development as an independent scientist," Navarro Mendoza said. "Joe Heitman's mentorship gave me the freedom and support to pursue my own scientific questions while encouraging me to think more ambitiously about their broader significance."
She credits MGM's collaborative culture with helping her develop new research directions in fungal epigenetics, antifungal resistance, and pathogenesis while building collaborations and publishing work that became the foundation of her independent research program.
For current and future trainees, Navarro Mendoza emphasizes the importance of collaboration, curiosity, and persistence.
"Learn from the people around you and make the most of the collaborative environment in MGM," she said. "Some of the best ideas and collaborations can come from discussing your work with people outside your immediate project. Don't be afraid to pursue ambitious questions."
As her career continues to flourish, Navarro Mendoza's success highlights the global impact of MGM training and mentorship, and the lasting connections that extend far beyond Duke.