posted on October 7, 2013
An MSI Principal Investigator is part of a new project to study diagnostic methods and treatments for meningitis. The University of Minnesota Medical School’s Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine have received a $3.2 million grant for this project. They will partner with Uganda’s Makerere University, with whom the U has been working for nearly ten years. The University’s story can be found in the People section of the University Relations website (October 2, “$3.2 million grant to diagnose/treat meningitis”).
Associate Professor Kirsten Nielsen (Microbiology, Medical School/College of Biological Sciences) is one of the collaborators on the project to study how sertraline, an antidepressant with antifungal properties, can be used to treat cryptococcal meningitis, which is caused by a fungal pathogen. Professor Nielsen uses MSI to study how the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans is able to cross the blood-brain barrier.