Julianne T Djordjevic Lorne Infection and Immunity 2019

Julianne T Djordjevic

Associate Professor Julianne Djordjevic has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) through the Ideas and Project Grant schemes. Using the priority fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans as a model, this funding has enabled her to uncover many ways that fungi are virulent (able to cause disease). Some key discoveries by her team include fungal lipid rafts and their role in the sequestration of virulence factors, and transcription factors involved in fungal adaptation to high temperature growth (Crz1) and phosphate acquisition (Pho4). She has also characterized the phosphate signaling machinery and its important contribution to fungal virulence in a mouse infection model, and a Sec14/ phospholipase C (PLC)-dependent secretion pathway for secreting the GPI anchored fungal “invasin” phospholipase B. More recently, her team has characterized a molecular pathway called the PLC-dependent inositol polyphosphate kinase (IPK) pathway. This pathway is crucial as it links signaling, transcription, and metabolism to promote numerous fungal virulence functions. Recognizing its central role in fungal virulence, she is collaborating with national and international research groups to develop inhibitors targeting the IPK pathway. The goal is to create a new class of antifungal drug, addressing a major global health priority.