The South Central Medical Mycology meeting was started by Drs. Paul Fidel (LSUHC) and Brian Wickes (UTHSA) 20 years ago, as a means for researchers in the south-central US to gather, discuss project updates, promote shared techniques and equipment, and facilitate intellectual exchange amongst attendees. The meeting has taken multiple forms over the years but has evolved into a platform for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees to highlight exciting new work in the realm of all things medical mycology, including pathogenesis, antifungal resistance, novel antifungal target discovery, fungal biology, host immunity, and tool development across a multitude of human fungal pathogens.
SCMM shares a rotation amongst several south-central cities, including Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Stillwater, and San Antonio. This year, Memphis is again honored to host the 20th Annual SCMM Meeting as it looks to bring together 70+ mycologists for two days of scientific collaboration and social interaction.
Abstracts
Please submit all abstracts to scmm@stjude.org no later than Thursday November 9th. All abstracts should be ~250 words, use 11 point Arial font, have 1" margins, and fit onto a single page. Please include all authors and affiliations.
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Christina Cuomo, PhD
Christina Cuomo is a Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Brown University. She is also a visiting scientist at the Broad Institute. Her group uses genomic methods to characterize the evolution of fungal pathogens. Studying species across the fungal kingdom, her work has led to major insights into the unique features of pathogenic species, how genomes evolve, variation with pathogen populations, antifungal drug resistance, and genes involved in host interaction. Her work is highly collaborative, engaging a global network of teams of computational biologists, experimental scientists, clinicians, and field researchers.
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Friday, November 17, 2023 12:00 - 1:00 pm Lunch
Forest Room1:00 – 1:15 pm Opening Remarks
Dave Rogers – Venetian BallroomW.C. Handy Session (Moderator: Dave Rogers) 1:15 – 1:30 pm The Role of Differentially-regulated Genes in the Outcome of Murine Phagocyte-cryptococcal Interaction
Ayesha Nair, Oklahoma State University1:30 – 1:45 pm Septin Mediated Spore Cell Wall Organization Contributes to Host Immune Evasion
Makenzie Bullard, Southern Illinois University1:45 – 2:00 pm The Cell Wall Glucan-glycogen Complex: A Novel Determinant of the Candida albicans Host-pathogen interaction
Jian Miao, UTHSC2:00 – 2:15 pm Exploring the interaction between the septin cytoskeleton and the cell wall integrity pathway MAPKs MpkA and MkkA in Aspergillus fumigatus
Rebecca Busch, Southern Illinois University2:15 – 2:45 pm Coffee Jerry Lee Lewis Session (Moderator: Glen Palmer) 2:45 – 3:00 pm Breaking the Mold: Unconventional Antifungals for Coccidioides
Sarah Saeger, University of Texas at San Antonio3:00 – 3:15 pm Loss of the Aspergillus fumigatus Spindle Assembly Checkpoint components, SldA or SldB, results in increased tolerance to multiple antifungals that target ergosterol biosynthesis
Ashley V. Nywening, UTHSC3:15 – 3:30 pm Characterization of Genetic Pathways Involved in the Function of a Novel Antifungal Peptide
Inés Pinto, University of Arkansas3:30 – 3:45 pm A small molecule inhibitor of pantothenate kinase has in vivo antifungal efficacy
Jessica Regan, UTHSC3:45 – 4:00 pm Coffee Elvis Presley Keynote 4:00 – 5:00 pm Population genomics and the evolution of virulence traits in Cryptococcus Neoformans
Christina Cuomo, PhD, Brown University6:00 – 8:00 pm Reception and dinner
Hernando DeSoto & Club Bar
8:00 - until Networking Saturday, November 18, 2023 Carl Perkins Session (Moderator: Cameron Hole) – Venetian Ballroom 8:30 – 8:45 am Exploring the Role of General Amino Acid Permeases in Mediating Candida albicans Sensitivity to the Calcineurin Inhibitor Drug FK506
Kimberly Garcia, University of Texas at San Antonio8:45 – 9:00 am Exploring how non-antifungal medications modulate host-Candida albicans Interaction
Parker Reitler, UTHSC9:00 – 9:15 am Echinocandin Heteroresistance among C. auris clinical isolates
Laura Doorley, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital9:15 – 9:30 am Candida albicans biofilm development in catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs)
Shane Cristy, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston9:30 – 9:45 am Development and assessment of an mRNA vaccine against coccidioidomycosis
Austin Negron, The University of Texas at San Antonio9:45 – 10:00 am Investigating the role of antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin during systemic fungal Infection
Alison Coady, University of Texas Medical Branch10:00 – 10:30 am Coffee Isaac Hayes Session (Moderator: Jeff Rybak) 10:30 – 10:45 am Pathogenicity is associated with population structure in a fungal pathogen of humans
E. Anne Hatmaker, Vanderbilt University10:30 – 10:45 am Candida albicans induces species-specific cytotoxicity of Staphylococcus aureus by distinct mechanisms
Kara R. Eichelberger, Vanderbilt University11:00 – 11:15 am Cross-Kingdom Interactions: Candida albicans but not Candida tropicalis Enhances Salmonella Typhimurium Pathogenesis
Olivia Todd, University of Illinois, Chicago11:15 – 11:30 am Intermicrobial metabolism drives the pathogenesis of fungal-bacterial intra-abdominal co-infection
Saikat Paul, UTHSC11:30 – 11:45 am Identifying putative hyphal regulators of Candida albicans
Dakota Archambault, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston11:45 am – 12:00 pm Translational Regulation of Candida albicans Stress and Filamentation Responses by Asc1 and eIF4E-binding Proteins
Sara Gaiser, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio12:00 – 12:30 pm Lunch
Box lunches in Forest RoomAretha Franklin Session (Moderator: Brian Peters) 12:30 – 12:45 pm Conserved Regulators of the Septation Initiation Network are required for Aspergillus fumigatus Echinocandin Resistance and Virulence
Harrison Thorn, UTHSC12:45 – 1:00 pm The sterol C-24 methyltransferase encoding gene, erg6, is essential for viability of Aspergillus species
Jinhong Xie, UTHSC1:00 – 1:15 pm The UPR activation in Aspergillus fumigatus changes with the nutritional environment and is essential for the establishment of keratitis
Manali Kamath, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center1:15 – 1:30 pm Genomic and phenotypic dimensions of strain heterogeneity in Aspergillus fischeri, a close non-pathogenic relative of A. fumigatus
Karin Steffen, Vanderbilt University1:30 – 1:45 pm Dissecting the hypoxia signaling pathway in ocular isolates of the Fusarium solani Species Complex
Jorge D. Lightfoot, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center1:45 – 2:00 pm Presentation of awards
Jeff Rybak
Business meeting
Future Meetings, Finances, other Discussions2:00 pm Adjourn -
The recently renovated Memphis International Airport (MEM) is located approximately 12 miles and ~15 min travel time from downtown Memphis
Cabs, Uber, and Lyft are routinely available (~$30 for rideshare).
Helpful links:
Airport transportation
Travel Directions and Maps
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The Peabody Ducks draw a crowd when they march through the lobby daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The Peabody Hotel
The "South's Grand Hotel" is located in the heart of downtown Memphis. Legendary for its charm and elegance, The Peabody Memphis is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Be sure to catch the twice-daily march of the hotel's resident Mallard ducks to their fountain in the hotel lobby, daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
A special rate has been arranged for the conference. (Note: The Peabody offers complimentary wi-fi. The network name is Lucky Duck and no password is required)
