025: It’s a Fungal Jungle Out There! A Discussion with Mary Ann Jabra-Rizk
Episode description
Dr. Mary Ann Jabra-Rizk is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, where she studies the fungus Candida albicans and its interactions with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.
C. albicans is a normal commensal fungus and S. aureus is also a common human commensal, but both are also opportunistic pathogens of humans. Fungi and bacteria are separated by several billion years of evolution, and yet Dr. Jabra-Rizk is studying how these organisms communicate with each other and team up to enhance their virulence. Dr. Jabra-Rizk talks about fungal-bacterial coinfections, the difficulty of effectively treating polymicrobial infections, and how she asked for her first microscope at the age of 13.
The MicroCase for listeners to solve is about Bear Britches, a college student who goes to Spring Break to cut loose and have fun, only to return with an infectious disease.
Participants:
Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA)
Mary Ann Jabra-Rizk, Ph.D. (University of Maryland)
Jose Lopez-Ribot, Ph.D., Pharm.D. (UTSA)
Jesus Romo (UTSA)