Antifungal Drug Development

By understanding how fungi survive stress, we aim to uncover the vulnerabilities that can be leveraged to develop new antifungal therapies.

The emergence of drug-resistant fungal pathogens and the limited number of available antifungal drug classes underscore the urgent need for new therapeutic strategies. Our research seeks to identify fungal-specific pathways that can be targeted to inhibit pathogen survival while minimizing toxicity to the host.

A major focus of our work is the trehalose biosynthesis pathway, a conserved fungal stress-response system that is absent in mammals. Because trehalose metabolism plays important roles in stress adaptation, thermotolerance, and virulence, its enzymes represent promising targets for antifungal drug development.

Our laboratory combines fungal genetics, biochemistry, structural biology, and computational approaches to define the molecular mechanisms that govern trehalose biosynthesis and to evaluate the pathway's potential as a therapeutic target. By understanding how these proteins function, interact, and respond to environmental stresses, we aim to identify vulnerabilities that can be exploited for the development of new antifungal agents.

Our work has helped establish a framework for understanding the role of trehalose metabolism in fungal pathogenesis and therapeutic development. In our npj Antimicrobials and Resistance review, we synthesized current knowledge of trehalose biosynthesis across fungal pathogens and highlighted the pathway's potential for antifungal drug discovery. Building upon this foundation, our recent mBio study provided new mechanistic insights into trehalose biosynthesis and further strengthened the case for targeting this pathway as an antifungal strategy.

Through these studies, we seek to bridge fundamental discoveries in fungal biology with translational efforts aimed at developing the next generation of antifungal therapies.

Featured Publications

Trehalose Biosynthesis as a Target for Antifungal Drug Development

npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, 2025

A comprehensive review of trehalose metabolism in fungal pathogens and its potential for therapeutic intervention.

Inhibitors of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase activity in fungal pathogens compromise thermal tolerance pathways

mBio, 2025

Mechanistic and functional studies advancing our understanding of trehalose biosynthesis and its role in fungal stress adaptation and pathogenesis.