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APC’s Dr. Hilary Browne Joins Global Effort to Tackle Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections
APC is proud to announce that Dr. Hilary Browne, a Funded Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland, a world leading Research Ireland Centre and a Senior Lecturer at the School of Microbiology University College Cork, is a key partner in a major new international research collaboration focused on tackling the growing threat of drug-resistant fungal infections
The project, led by Professor Edward Feil at the University of Bath and consisting of seven partners from six different countries, has been awarded €2.3 million through the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR). This global platform brings together 29 nations to support research that addresses the urgent public health challenge of antimicrobial resistance.
The research will focus on Candida, a group of fungal species that includes several pathogens capable of causing severe infections in hospital settings. These infections affect millions of people globally and are becoming increasingly difficult to treat due to rising resistance to antifungal drugs.
Dr. Browne, whose JPIAMR funding comes from the Health Research Board, will lead one of the project’s four core research areas, his role draws directly on his expertise in the human gut microbiome and his groundbreaking work in bacterial strain isolation and characterisation.
Aaron Curtis, a postdoctoral researcher, joined Dr. Browne’s group in Autumn 2025 and will explore how bacteria in the gut interact with Candida species and, more importantly, will identify bacterial strains that may naturally inhibit the growth of these harmful fungi. The team will characterise these protective bacteria in the lab and assess their potential as future therapies to help prevent Candida infections, especially in vulnerable hospital patients.
One of the unique features of this collaboration is its combination of clinical, environmental and genomic approaches. Using cutting-edge genome sequencing, researchers will identify fungal strains that have adapted to thrive and transmit in hospitals, in much the same way that bacterial superbugs like MRSA have done.
A major objective of the project is to close significant knowledge gaps around Candida transmission, environmental prevalence and infection. The data generated will help develop better hospital infection control strategies and may also lay the groundwork for novel microbiome-based therapies.
Dr. Browne joined APC and University College Cork in 2024 after being awarded a prestigious ERC Starter Grant to establish his own research group. His lab focuses on how gut bacteria adapt for survival, particularly through spore formation, which allows them to endure harsh conditions and pass between hosts. This knowledge is now being applied to some of the most pressing challenges in global health.
