April 2021
The Aspergillus newsletter is dividing!
 
Like a yeast cell, this newsletter has grown over the past few years (more than 22,000 subscribers) and is now ready to divide into two 'daughter' newsletters with slightly different aims. We hope this will allow us to cover more of the content that is most relevant and interesting.

We hope that many of you will choose to receive both newsletters as they will be designed to complement each other and form a bridge between the research community and the patients that they are ultimately working to help. If you would like to receive both emails then you don't need to do anything. However, if you would like to unsubscribe from one or the other, then there will be a link to follow in the first issue of each daughter newsletter.
 
  Aspergillus & Aspergillosis National Aspergillosis Centre
Produced by Professor Denning and colleagues at MFIG (University of Manchester) CARES team at NAC (MFT/NHS)
For Aspergillus researchers and health professionals Patients and those connected with providing aspergillosis care in the UK
Research
-   Basic Aspergillus research
-   Clinical trials at all stages
-   MFIG and worldwide
-   Service developments coming from NAC and MRCM
-  Clinical trials currently recruiting aspergillosis patients
-  New tests and treatments likely to become available in the UK in the next few years
Resources
Conferences & CPD
Jobs & funding
 Patient self-care and education
YouTube channel Aspergillus & Aspergillosis National Aspergillosis Centre
Website Aspergillus & Aspergillosis Aspergillosis Patients & Carers website
Other   National Aspergillosis Centre Support (UK) Facebook group
 
 
Budding yeast in late anaphase, case in bronze by @dallandrummond (currently hiring postdocs in Chicago)
 
 
News & Notices
 
The Journal of Fungi has a call for papers for a special issue on Aspergillus oryzae and the koji moulds (editors Katsuhiko Kitamoto and Yujiro Higuchi; deadline 1 Jun)
 
The European Lung Foundation held the ELF-EMBARC Virtual Bronchiectasis Patient Conference on Saturday 27th Feb. Several patients from the Aspergillosis Support (UK) group attended and found the event useful.
 
 
Webinars and online meetings
 
MRC CMM Monthly Myco-talks Thurs 29th April at 16:00 UK time
  • Leah Cowen: Identifying Vulnerabilities in Fungal Pathogens Through Functional and Chemical Genomic Analyses
  • Iliyan Iliev: The Mycobiome of the gastrointestinal tract: at the crossroad of Protective Immunity and Inflammatory Diseases
 
KNVM will be holding a webinar about fungal genomics from 15:00-17:00 on Thurs 22nd April.
 
The Bioinformatic Resource Centers will be hosting a lecture by Dr Mike Bromley (MFIG) at 16:00 UK time on Tues 4th May, on the topic of Aspergillus and FungiDB
 
Visit the ID in Motion YouTube channel to watch the first part of the 'Mucormycosis: One World One Guideline'. The second part on rare moulds will follow on 26 May.
 
 
Latest research
 
Chronic aspergillosis patients often have coinfections with bacteria such as Pseudomonas and Mycobacterium. In some cases this is due to shared risk factors (e.g. cystic fibrosis), or lung damage from one infection making someone more susceptible to developing CPA. However, there is some evidence that pathogens can interact directly. A study in Burkina Faso found that the leg skin of around 11% of people living around wetlands were colonised with Mycobacterium ulcerans (versus 0% of city-dwellers), which is the cause of buruli ulcer, and that this was significantly associated with the presence of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. Moreover, they found that M. ulcerans secretes mycolactones, which increase the germination rate of Aspergillus flavus around 3-fold (91% versus 29%).
 
Molecular epidemiology asks whether species such as Aspergillus can be subdivided into different genotypes and whether these can be associated with particular patterns of disease, or geography, or different types of host. It can be used to track the source of an outbreak or the spread of antifungal resistance. This new review by staff at the Mycology Reference Centre Manchester describes the genotyping methods currently available, as well as the genotypes and geographic profiles seen at the National Aspergillosis Centre.
 
Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is often mistaken for reactivation of tuberculosis, especially in resource-limited or rural settings lacking diagnostics such as CT scanners, fungal culture and IgG antibody tests. Doctors in Bangalore (southern India) found that a scoring system based on X-rays (modified from Ralph et al, 2010) was an effective screening tool for patients who had been successfully treated for TB but had later experienced massive haemoptysis. At the cutoff score they suggest (>71), the specificity was found to be 96%.
 
  Patients and carers
 
Maybe you or a loved one has just received a diagnosis of aspergillosis and you’re not sure where to start. Or maybe you need to share information about your condition with your doctor, carer, housing association or benefits assessor.
 
WEBSITE: Our patients and carers website (aspergillosis.org) can provide you with everything you need to know about aspergillosis, as well as practical advice on managing your condition and keeping safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
FACEBOOK SUPPORT GROUP: Our Aspergillosis Support Facebook Group has over 2300 members and is a safe place to meet and talk to other people with aspergillosis. We also have a Facebook group for carers, friends and family of someone who is affected by the disease - join here
 
WEEKLY ZOOM CHAT: We host a weekly Zoom video phone call with around 4-8 patients and a member of National Aspergillosis Centre (NAC) staff twice each week. You can use a computer or mobile device to join the video at Aspergillosis Community Support. This meeting runs from 10:00-11:00 BST every Tuesday & Thursday and is also presented in our private Facebook group (see below).

MONTHLY PATIENTS & CARERS MEETING:On the first Friday of every month (13:00-15:00) we hold an online meeting .To receive a text reminder when each monthly meeting is approaching send us your mobile phone number to admin@aspergillus.org.uk (UK only)
 
Did you miss the December Patients & Carers meeting? You can catch up on our YouTube channel:
 
 
 
 
Jobs
Clinical networks
Conferences
 
Follow us on LinkedIn to get the latest jobs, news and professional events
 
Medical Writer & Web Manager for LIFE Worldwide, based at the University of Manchester (2yrs). Apply by 22nd April
 
Funded PhD project on antifungal resistance in emerging Candida species at the University of Aberdeen. Apply by 3rd May.
 
Senior/lead fungal molecular biologist with Supplant (Cambridge). Apply here.
 
3yr postdoc in microfluidics and soil fungi at Imperial University (London). Apply by 31st May.
 
More and more conferences are switching to exclusively online presentation as COVID-19 continues to restrict travel and social contact throughout the world.
 
Most recently the 38TH ANNUALMEETING OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR PAEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES has been set for the 26 - 29th October 2020 as a virtual meeting
 
See more groups and societies
 
 
 
  Our websites
 
     
Fungal Infection Trust, PO Box 482, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 9AR
 
 
 
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