Jose Vargues-Muniz recentely received his first R01 award. Congrats Jose!
Jose is currently an Assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech and a Whitman Fellow with the Marine Biological Laboratory. The funded proposal aims to understand how the septin cytoskeleton of Aspergillus fumigatus, the etiological agent of Invasive Aspergillosis, contributes to the fungal response to the anti-cell wall drug caspofungin. This research project combines cell and molecular biology, microscopy, and proteomics approaches to understand if septins are involved in the fungistatic response to caspofungi and how the septin cytoskeleton could serve as a signaling hub that helps the fungus adapt to the anti-cell wall stress.