Center for Medical Mycology (CMM) is a unique institutional resource
for the study of fungal diseases from the test tube to the patient, which serves
as a mycology reference center providing services to clinicians and the pharmaceutical
industry. We also perform molecular level research on areas including fungal pathogenesis,
virulence and formation of fungal biofilm, as well as clinically relevant studies
in fungal biology. The faculty and staff at the Center possess high ethical standards
and are committed to being effective, responsible and accountable.
Our Mission
To provide reliable patient oriented services which will support University Hospitals'
long standing commitment to provide quality patient management and innovative research
and to strengthen Case Western Reserve University as a major biomedical research
university by making important scholarly contributions to the fund of mycological
center of excellence, recognized as having innovative research, educational and
clinical programs.
Overview
Research at the CMM is devoted to the following main areas:
- A basic science area focusing on the biology of
fungal biofilms, determination of virulence factors responsible for
the pathogenesis of fungi including dermatophytes, Candida albicans
and Cryptococcus neoformans, and
- A pre-clinical laboratory area concentrating on development of reference
method for antifungal susceptibility testing.
- An in vivo animal center
- Studies of mechanism of action of different antifungal agents.
In an effort to delineate the pathogenicity factors of fungi causing skin infections,
we utilize the methods and approaches we developed in our previous investigations
addressing the virulence of fungi causing systemic infections to research on dermatophytes.
Additionally, we have developed standard methods for antifungal susceptibility
testing of dermatophytes. To date, both of these areas have received little or no
attention even though infections with these agents are increasing and may cause
devastating systemic infections in the immunocompromised host, especially in those
whose neutrophil and macrophage functions is deficient.
Of particular relevance in the clinical laboratory area is the microdilution
method we developed for determining the susceptibility of Cryptococcus neoformans.
We have shown that this method is reproducible, easy to perform and has both
intra- and inter-laboratory agreement. Critically, we demonstrated that cryptococcal
susceptibility to fluconazole is an important predictor of treatment success for
patients with acute AIDS-associated cryptococcal meningitis. This method was
recently adopted as part of the NCCLS Reference Method for Antifungal Susceptibility
Testing. Developing a susceptibility method for dermatophytes is currently
being performed at CMM.
Strong support for these research efforts are drawn from different sources including
the established faculty of the Department of Dermatology, associated researchers,
and newly appointed faculty of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve
University. Existing faculty provides a wealth of expertise in the clinical studies,
pharmacology, immunology and molecular biology of the skin and skin diseases, and
medical mycology. The presence of faculty with a wide array of multi-disciplinary
expertise allows for addressing a research issue from different angles.
Contact Information
