2021 Undergraduate Student Vacation Bursary Awards

In 2021, six bursaries were awarded to projects in medical mycology and plant pathology.

Hazel Irving worked with Dr Liz Beal, Royal Horticultural Society, to investigate the effect of the environment on disease in plants with high susceptibility to powdery mildew.  The findings will contribute to the advice RHS gives to members and other gardeners on limiting and controlling powdery mildew diseases. READ HAZEL'S REPORT

Emma Ann Platt worked with Dr Estrella Luna-Diez, University of Birmingham, to study the effect of elevated CO₂ on resistance to the fungal plant pathogen Erysiphe alphitoides.  Emma Ann will investigate this in mature oak trees and seedlings, providing the groundwork for the translation of research into a set of guidelines for woodland owners, policy makers and the general public on how to establish new forests, now and into the future.  READ EMMA ANN'S REPORT

Armillaria mellea (honey fungus) causes devastating disease on a range of woody trees and shrubs. In lab studies, Trichoderma soil fungi taken from the roots of healthy plants have been shown to have antagonistic or eradicative properties against A. mellea.  Jude Turner worked with Dr Andy Bailey, University of Bristol to assess the range of plants in which this occurs, helping to investigate the potential for using such endophytic fungi for biological control of honey fungus. READ JUDE'S REPORT

Emily Rowlands worked with Dr Alex Brand, University of Exeter on Candida auris, an inherently drug-resistant fungal pathogen of humans.  Emily’s project will extend this study to the other C. auris clades to understand how myriocin works, providing the preliminary data for future studies of these mechanisms. READ EMILY'S REPORT

Working with Dr Ryan Kean, Glasgow Caledonian University, Willemijn Kuiters investigated the effect of co-infection with the bacterium S. aureus on the ability of the yeast Candida albicans to form biofilms (a key infection mechanism in many fungal pathogens) to help establish whether co-infection with S. aureus increases C. albicans pathogenicity and antifungal tolerance. READ WILLEMIJN'S REPORT

Dmytro Prasolov worked with Dr Carolina Coelho, University of Exeter, on the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans.  Recent studies have shown that deletion of certain C. neoformans genes leads to growth defects; this project will further characterise the defects and measure the impact of genetic deletion on virulence in wax moths, a model organism.  The findings will provide data to support funding applications for further research into the impact in mammalian hosts. READ DMYTRO'S REPORT

2020 bursary awards

• Fungal colonization of voice-prosthesis biofilms and its use as a predictor of device longevity in total-laryngectomy patients.  Alaina Cockerell, University of Exeter READ ALAINA'S REPORT
• In silico analysis of genomic variants influencing titanisation ability in Cryptococcus neoformans in response to fluconazole. Bryan Chang, University of Birmingham READ BRYAN'S REPORT