About this Research Topic
We are humbled and privileged to host a research topic honoring a legendary woman in fungal research Dr. Welda LaJean Chaffin. Dr. Chaffin was a Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock Texas. She was a mentor par excellence and an exceptional, trailblazing woman investigator who was a role model to many young women and men alike, in science.
For almost 50 years her research focused on the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans, and she was truly one of the pioneers in many aspects of its cell biology, molecular biology, and pathogenicity, with major emphases on cell wall and biofilm formation. Her work provided the foundation to many subsequent studies by many different groups around the globe.
She provided extensive service to our discipline, as a reviewer for NIH grant study sections, and scientific journals and as a meeting organizer. She was an active member of the American Society for Microbiology and the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas. In 1988, she cofounded ASM’s conference on Candida and Candidiasis, which continues successfully to date and has been the main forum for exchange of ideas for those of us working on this field. Over the years she mentored many students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scientists, many of whom have remained in our field of medical mycology. Those of us who trained with her will forever be grateful for her mentorship, guidance, caring personality, and strong ethical values, and for instilling in us the love for science, in particular medical mycology.
You have been chosen to contribute a research article in her honor, since you have previously collaborated with her or your research closely matches to her passions in the area of fungal research. The topics that could be covered are the following: Fungal cell wall proteomics and biochemistry; secreted fungal proteins, Candida biofilms and host-pathogen interactions, drug resistance in Candida. We would be delighted by your support in felicitating Dr. Chaffin by displaying your work in the form of a research article and moving the field forward.
Best regards
Priya Uppuluri (Associate Professor, UCLA) and Jose L Lopez Ribot (Professor, UTSA)
For almost 50 years her research focused on the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans, and she was truly one of the pioneers in many aspects of its cell biology, molecular biology, and pathogenicity, with major emphases on cell wall and biofilm formation. Her work provided the foundation to many subsequent studies by many different groups around the globe.
She provided extensive service to our discipline, as a reviewer for NIH grant study sections, and scientific journals and as a meeting organizer. She was an active member of the American Society for Microbiology and the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas. In 1988, she cofounded ASM’s conference on Candida and Candidiasis, which continues successfully to date and has been the main forum for exchange of ideas for those of us working on this field. Over the years she mentored many students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scientists, many of whom have remained in our field of medical mycology. Those of us who trained with her will forever be grateful for her mentorship, guidance, caring personality, and strong ethical values, and for instilling in us the love for science, in particular medical mycology.
You have been chosen to contribute a research article in her honor, since you have previously collaborated with her or your research closely matches to her passions in the area of fungal research. The topics that could be covered are the following: Fungal cell wall proteomics and biochemistry; secreted fungal proteins, Candida biofilms and host-pathogen interactions, drug resistance in Candida. We would be delighted by your support in felicitating Dr. Chaffin by displaying your work in the form of a research article and moving the field forward.
Best regards
Priya Uppuluri (Associate Professor, UCLA) and Jose L Lopez Ribot (Professor, UTSA)
Keywords: drug resistance in Candida, Candida biofilms, Candida host pathogen interaction, fungal cell wall proteomics, biochemistry, secreted fungal proteins
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
