Research Projects

Mucormycosis is a lethal fungal infection caused by molds, with Rhizopus spp. and Mucor spp. being the most common etiological agents. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased mucormycosis cases in countries like Brazil, Egypt, Iran, France, and India. The disease often results in high mortality rates and vision loss in patients with rhino-orbital infections. The pathogenesis of mucormycosis is not well understood, and the current project aims to understand the host defense mechanism against the fungus and the cell signaling and immune processes associated with it. Gasdermin D, a protein associated with pyroptosis, plays a critical role in infection and inflammation. The project aims to study the molecular mechanism of pathogenesis during mucormycosis and determine if gasdermin D inhibitors might play a protective role against the disease. The objectives include detecting host anti-fungal effectors in sino-orbital tissues from patients with CAM, understanding pathogenesis and immune responses in sinonasal and corneal epithelial cells during mucormycosis, and activating gasdermin D (GSDMD) and its role in pathogenesis.