An electronic newsletter from the Marine Biological Laboratory
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Mycology Alumni Gather for Anniversary Symposium
Alumni gathered in Woods Hole on August 24 at a symposium to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the MBL's Molecular Mycology course. The symposium was sponsored by The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF), the course developer and long-time supporter. Victoria McGovern, Senior Program Officer for the BWF and Dennis Dixon from the National Institutes of Health organized the symposium, which was attended by course alumni, faculty, and current students.
The BWF designed the Mycology course in 1997 to make medical mycology accessible to those whose training involved other organisms, and to provide molecular training for classical medical mycologists. Today it attracts 16 to 18 advanced graduate students, postdocs, and independent investigators yearly and provides state-of-the-art training in molecular methods for studying fungal pathogens important in human disease.
Last May the American Society for Microbiology published
Molecular Principles of Fungal Pathogenesis, an up-to-date compendium of research in the field of medical mycology. Much of the information in the textbook, edited by Mycology course directors John Edwards and Aaron Mitchell and others, is derived from the MBL’s Mycology course.
One of the hallmarks of the BWF mission is to advance fields in the basic biomedical sciences that are undervalued or in need of particular encouragement. Over the last decade, the BWF has awarded more than $5.2 million to the MBL in support of the laboratory’s education and research programs. In addition to funding the Molecular Mycology course, whose funding since 1997 now totals more than $950,000, the BWF has provided critical support to the MBL’s Biology of Parasitism, Frontiers in Reproduction, and Physiology courses. Their grants also established an endowment to support undergraduate education and research training in the field of parasitology.
“The MBL is grateful for the crucial financial support that The Burroughs Wellcome Fund has provided to our education and research programs through the years,” said Gary Borisy, MBL Director and CEO, “Their investment in our courses has enabled us to continue to provide educational experiences that will have a significant impact on our students and their research.”
