Neta Shlezinger
Appointment
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2023-2025
Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities
Connect
About
What makes a microbe a pathogen? How do fungal cells die? How do hosts, such as humans, fight against them? And how can we use this knowledge to develop novel antimicrobial treatments? These are the questions that the Shlezinger lab addresses. To answer these large questions, the team applies novel fluorescent biosensors that enable them to visualize individual encounters between host-cells and pathogenic fungi in real-time and in their natural habitat. This approach helps to profile their communications with the immune system that ultimately define the outcome of infection. Understanding the mechanism that governs this multifactorial interaction is imperative for the development of much-needed novel antifungals.
Awards
- Women in STEM award, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2022
- Fellow, Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program, 2020
- Postdoctoral Award, Memorial Sloan Kettering, 2018
- Fellow, Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Award (sponsored by Gilead), 2018
Relevant Publications
- Shlezinger, N., Irmer, H., Dhingra, S., Beattie, S. R., Cramer, R. A., Braus, G. H., ... & Hohl, T. M. (2017). Sterilizing immunity in the lung relies on targeting fungal apoptosis-like programmed cell death. Science, 357(6355), 1037-1041.
- Shlezinger, N., & Hohl, T. M. (2021). Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species enhance alveolar macrophage activity against Aspergillus fumigatus but are dispensable for host protection. MSphere, 6(3), e00260-21.
- Lerer, V., & Shlezinger, N. (2022). Inseparable companions: Fungal viruses as regulators of fungal fitness and host adaptation. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 1556.
Support Us
CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.