Casadevall Lab

Exploring the Fundamental Principles Underlying Microbial Virulence Mechanisms and Host Cell Defenses

The Casadevall Laboratory is a multidisciplinary research group exploring a wide range of questions in microbiology, immunology, and philosophy of science.

Our research focuses on two fundamental questions: First, how do microbes cause disease? Second, how do hosts, such as humans, protect themselves against microbes? To address these important questions, the laboratory takes a multidisciplinary approach, employing molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, and microbiology.

A major focus of the laboratory are fungal species, including Candida auris, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Cryptococcus gattii, along with other ubiquitous environmental microbes that frequently cause disease in individuals with impaired immunity. Cryptococcal species cause lung infection, including a particularly dangerous fungal meningitis observed primarily in immune-compromised patients such as those with AIDS. The emerging fungal pathogen, C. auris, is also known to cause human infection and disease. All of these fungal species exhibit antimicrobial resistance. Many of the laboratory’s projects seek to understand how hosts defend against these organisms and how their virulence mechanisms contribute to disease. 

Research Interests

Pathogenesis and immune response to fungal pathogens

Role of Melanin in infectious diseases

Antibody-mediated catalysis and the immune response

Fungal evolution