Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program
BSc, Chemistry, Zoology, & Microbiology
Mount Carmel College, Bangalore University, Bangalore (2002)
Msc, Microbiology
St. Joseph's College of Arts & Science, Post Graduate & Research Center, Bangalore University, Bangalore (2004)

Email: shriya.raj@drexel.edu

Advisor: Dr. Thomas Edlind
 
Thesis Research Summary

Our lab primarily focuses on studying mechanisms of resistance to various antifungals in clinically relevant fungal pathogens. Sterol biosynthesis inhibitors like azoles, are fungistatic and this has lead to widespread resistance problems in therapy; while cell wall synthesis inhibitors like caspofungin, are potentially fungicidal and are promising. I am further dissecting mechanisms of azole resistance in yeasts, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system, by doing nutritional marker replacement studies of the ERG11 gene, which encodes the azole target. This will help me determine if there are any transcriptional factors involved in resistance. I am also looking at potentially alternative cell wall targets of caspofungin in Candida albicans by disrupting homologs of cell wall synthesis genes and determining if there is any altered susceptibility to different antifungals, since there have been recent reports describing isolation of caspofungin resistant strains. The above studies would potentially have an impact on therapeutics.