Cornelia Lass-Flörl. Head of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology Division 
Medical University of Innsbruck. Website
Hygiene and Medical Microbiology (HMM). Schöpfstraße 41, 6020 Innsbruck
Reseach subject
Infectious diseases, hygiene, immunity, fungal pathogens, antifungal resistance, dendritic cells, platelets, complement, nosocomial infections, public health
Summary
Within the estimated 2 million fungal species on earth, about 600 cause diseases in humans, and the most important are Candida, Aspergillus, Mucorales, and Cryptococcus. Fungal infections are increasing and are associated with excessive morbidity and mortality. The reasons for emergence are likely multifactorial, e.g. the advent of medical progress, the successful application of immunosuppression in transplanted patients, and the use of immunomodulatory agents for treating various diseases from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis. Reducing the incidence relies on rapid and specific diagnosis, effective antifungal treatment, and adherence to infection control. Hence, the research is focused the following main research questions: How to best diagnose, treat and prevent fungal infections. Scientific activities cover fungal pathogenicity and virulence factors, molecular mechanisms of host pathogen-interaction including the complement system, basic immunological research (interactions of dendritic cells/T-cells), antimicrobial agents (antimycotics) and prevention of nosocomial infections.
HMM seeks to prevent illness and death from targeted infectious disease threats through research and the translation of scientific information into real-world, practical applications, policies, and solutions.
Publications
- Galleria mellonella: An invertebrate model to study pathogenicity in correctly defined fungal species. Fungal Biol. 2016;120(2):288-95
- Current Challenges in the Diagnosis of Fungal Infections. Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1508:3-15
- Prospective multicentre PCR-based Aspergillus DNA screening in high-risk patients with and without primary antifungal mould prophylaxis. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2016;22(1):80-6
- Amphotericin B Resistance in Aspergillus terreus Is Overpowered by Coapplication of Pro-oxidants. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2015 23(18):1424-38.
- Polymorphisms in Host Immunity-Modulating Genes and Risk of Invasive Aspergillosis: Results from the AspBIOmics Consortium. Infect Immun. 2015 Dec 14;84(3):643-57.