I was awarded a $400.00 CfT mini-grant to support bringing alumna Ms. Alexandra Soare (C’13) to visit from the University of Maryland-Baltimore to present “Nitric Oxide in Mucormycosis Pathogeneis” to chemistry and biochemistry students on October 14, 2022.
Mucormycosis is a NIAID classified emerging disease caused by Mucorales fungi and is characterized by invasion of the fungi into blood vessels, which results in rapid tissue death. Despite the high morbidity and mortality rates, there remains no reliable medical therapy for mucormycosis besides surgical debridement of the infected area.
Dubbed the “black mold” by the media, the previously obscure fungal disease was thrust into the spotlight after an alarmingly high number of secondary infections amongst COVID-19 patients that lead to thousands of deaths, particularly in the Indian subcontinent.
The lack of available therapies for this deadly disease has highlighted the need to understand how this fungus interacts with our immune system and how we may use this knowledge to develop potential therapeutics. Her graduate research has uncovered an immune evasion phenomena by which Mucorales fungi are able to prevent the production of nitric oxide from activated immune cells. This suppressive activity represents a novel mechanism by which Mucorales evade the immune response to cause disease and highlights nitric oxide as a potential novel treatment against mucormycosis.
A onetime pre-med, Alexandra graduated an international and global studies major who minored in biology and took a number of chemistry classes. Her post-graduate life took her to laboratories in New Orleans and New York before she began her PhD program. Alexandra attended a networking lunch in McClurg with students and faculty and offered her contact information to students interested in pursuing research in her field or at UMB.
Bethel Seballos, Department of Chemistry