Not ‘The Last of Us’: The role of the CDC in fighting fungal infections

Shawn Lockhart PhD is the Senior Clinical Laboratory Advisor for the Mycotic Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He got his undergraduate degree from Bellarmine University, his PhD from the University of Kentucky, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Iowa. His research focus is on clinical mycology and antifungal resistance. His current emphasis is on international fungal laboratory capacity building, and he has lectured on every continent but Antarctica. He has authored or coauthored over 270 manuscripts and book chapters and his publications have been cited over 23,000 times. He recently co-authored the book, 7 th edition of Larone’s Medically Important Fungi.

To discuss, in layman’s terms, the role of fungi in disease and what the CDC is doing to combat it.  This will include talking about emerging fungi, fungal surveillance, and some exciting fungal outbreaks we have investigated.