Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Prof. Nir Osherov

Prof. Osherov, PhD, is at the Department of Clinical Microbioloy and Immunology at the School of Medicine and holds the Chair for the Ella Kodesz Institute for Host Defense. He completed his PhD studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his post-doctoral training at the Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA. Osherov heads the Joint BSc Program in Medical and Life Sciences.

www.tau.ac.il/~nosherov/index.html

Fungal diseases and novel treatments

Every year, over 1.5 million people die worldwide from fungal infections These numbers are increasing fast because of the growing number of at-risk immunocompromised patients. Worryingly, fungi are developing resistance to our top antifungal drugs

One of the most dangerous and common fungal infections, called Invasive Aspergillosis, is caused by the green mold Aspergillus fumigatus. It is commonly found in decaying vegetation, producing airborne spores that can infect the lungs. The Osherov lab uses cutting-edge molecular techniques to study how this fungus infects the lungs and how it develops resistance to antifungal drugs They develop new drugs that take advantage of its weaknesses. This work is contributing to better understanding and treatment of a surprisingly common and lethal fungal infection.