Dr Alexandra Brand

About me:

My research focuses on the molecular biology of hyphal growth of the fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, and how this determines fungal responses to the surrounding physical environment. Hyphae are the invasive form of the fungus so it is important to understand the signal and response mechanisms that enable these microscopic filaments to penetrate and damage host tissue. To study this, we use genetic tools, microfabricated chambers and live-cell fluorescence microscopy so we can tune environmental factors and quantify cellular responses at the molecular and whole organism levels. These studies also inform our understanding of how constitutively polarized cells are organized, which is an important feature of many eukaryotic cell types and systems.

Interests:

Systemic fungal infections kill more than 1 million people a year. Almost half of these deaths are caused by two fungi that produce invasive hyphal filaments.

These filaments penetrate deep within human tissue causing cell damage, inflammation and fatal levels of sepsis. A key virulence trait of these filaments is their ability to steer as they grow and respond to physical features they encounter in the environment.

Although fungi are relatively simple organisms, we do not yet understand how this information is sensed or how the direction of growth is altered. We have developed an imaging system that enables us to monitor hyphal growth and track the movement of intracellular fluorescent proteins at the same time. By deleting candidate genes, we can compare the mutant strains with normal cells to find out which proteins are important for hyphal steering.

Mutants that cannot steer normally are not able to penetrate human tissue so drugs that uncouple the steering mechanism in fungal cells might be effective at halting deep-seated tissue invasion by these fungal pathogens.

Qualifications:

2004 PhD Microbiology, University of Aberdeen

2000 BSc Biochemistry, University of Aberdeen

Career:

2023 - 26 UKRI Talent Panel College member

2023 + Lead, Independent Fellows' Network, Biosciences, University of Exeter

2022 + Royal Society Research Grants Panel for Biological Sciences

2021 - 22 Royal Society Fellowship Mentor

2020 + Living Systems Institute Affiliate

2019 + Associate Professor, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, University of Exeter

2017 - 22 Wellcome Senior Research Fellow

2018 - 19 Institute of Medical Sciences, Researcher Development Lead, University of Aberdeen

2014 - 21 BBSRC Commitee E - panel member and David Phillips Fellows mentor

2016 - 21 Royal Society Newton International Fellowship - panel member

2016 Chair, Fungal Research Committe, British Mycological Society

2013 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology

2015 - 18 Co-Lead, Microbiology Research Programme, University of Aberdeen

2010 British Mycological Society Berkeley Award for Early-Career Scientists

2010 - 14 Medical Research Council New Investigator

2009 - 17 Royal Society University Research Fellow

2006 - 09 BBSRC Researcher Co-Investigator, with Prof Neil Gow

2003- 06 Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Aberdeen

Pre-1996 International career in commerce