023: There’s Another Fungus Among Us! With Dr. Andrew Alspaugh

Dr. Andrew Alspaugh is a physician and Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Alspaugh is a mycologist, which means he studies fungi. Fungi typically cause serious and sometimes fatal disease in immunocompromised people. It is difficult to treat and prevent fungal diseases in these patients, due to their poorly functioning immune systems. Dr. Alspaugh is doing research on Cryptococcus neoformans, a common fungal infection of HIV-infected individuals. Dr. Alspaugh discusses fungal infections and the development of treatments and cures, his involvement in training mycologists at Woods Hole in Massachusetts, and how physician-patient interaction influences the research in his laboratory.

The MicroCase for listeners to solve is about Grumpy McGrumpface, the retired out-of-shape accountant who tries to get physically fit, only to come down with a life-threatening illness.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Andrew Alspaugh, M.D. (Duke University) Floyd Wormley, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jose Lopez-Ribot, Ph.D. (UTSA)