Department / Division:
Medicine / Infectious Diseases

Address:
DUMC 3281
Durham, NC 27710

Appointment Telephone:
919-668-7630

Fax Telephone:
919-479-2948

• MD, University of Virginia School of Medicine, 1989

• Internal Medicine, New England Deaconess Hospital (Massachusetts), 1989-1992
• Infectious Diseases, Duke University Medical Center, 1992-1995

Clinical Interests:
Fungal infections, HIV

Research Interests:

    My research interests are concerned with fungal infections in humans.  
    I am especially interested in the human pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus
    neoformans, and I am using this organism as a model fungal pathogen in
    molecular pathogenesis studies.
   
    My lab is using a variety of techniques to identify genes that are
    important to the composite virulence phenotype of C. neoformans.  We
    have used insertional mutagenesis to find mutants of interest and we
    have also used targeted gene disruption to study specific genes that
    are thought to have a role in pathogenesis.  The emphasis is to find
    genes referable to all fungi pathogenic to humans since these may be
    candidates for antifungal development.
   
    I am also involved in a variety of clinical trials.  Some of these are
    through the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the Mycoses Study Group,
    while others are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies to test novel
    antifungal agents.
   
    Key words: fungi, pathogenesis, mycology, AIDS, cryptococcus

Representative Publications:
Cox GM, Schell WA, and Perfect JR. Unusual mycoses in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Cliniguide to Fungal Infections, 1995, Vol. 5, Issue 4. (1995)