NIH awards $4 million to study fungal diagnostics and treatments

Thomas F. Patterson, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine, received $4,015,552 from the National Institutes of Health for two five-year studies that focus on small-animal model development and utilization for target identification and testing of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for invasive aspergillosis and clinically related fungal diseases, and selected invasive fungal diseases.

“Fungal infections are a major cause of complications and mortality in immunosuppressed patients, including patients undergoing transplantation or receiving chemotherapy for cancer,” Dr. Patterson said. “These studies are aimed at evaluating new agents and methods to improve the diagnosis and treatment of these infections.”