How antifungal drugs and weak immunity change Candida glabrata in the gut
Official title: Effects of antifungal drug treatment and immune dysfunction on the evolutionary dynamics of gut-colonizing Candida glabrata
Funded at Hackensack University Medical Center · NIH-11264770 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how antifungal medicines and immune problems change Candida glabrata in the gut, for people at risk of invasive fungal infections.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Hackensack University Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Hackensack, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2025 |
| Project end | January 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $221,375 |
| NIH project number | 5R21AI190958-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11264770 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with weakened immune systems or those receiving long courses of antibiotics or antifungals who are at risk for invasive Candida infections are most relevant to this research.
✕Less likely to help
Healthy people without gut Candida colonization or immune compromise are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this specific research.
What this research studies
I want to know how Candida glabrata living in the gut can change when people receive antifungal drugs or have weaker mucosal immunity. The team uses a mouse model that mimics human gut colonization and exposes those models to caspofungin and other perturbations to reproduce clinical scenarios. They will track the fungus over time using DNA sequencing and targeted amplicon approaches to find genetic changes linked to drug resistance. The work aims to mirror treatments and immune problems patients face so results can inform prevention and therapy choices.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help prevent or better treat life-threatening Candida infections by identifying when and how drug-resistant strains arise in the gut.
How similar studies have gone: Previous laboratory and animal studies show Candida can rapidly develop antifungal resistance, but applying gut-colonization models to immune-compromised conditions and caspofungin exposure is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
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Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Shor, Erika — Hackensack University Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Shor, Erika
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.