Nancy Keller
Position title: Professor of Medical Microbiology & Immunology and Plant Pathology
Email: npkeller@wisc.edu
Phone: 608-262-9792
Address:
Education
Ph.D. Cornell University, Postdoctoral research with USDA
PubMed Publications
Department Website
Research Focus
Our research focus lies in genetically dissecting those aspects fungi that render them potent pathogens and superb natural product (also called secondary metabolite) machines. Our lab (i) elucidates molecules involved in the virulence of plant, animal and human pathogenic fungi and (ii) methods to express and characterize novel bioactive fungal secondary metabolites for drug development. Pathogenic fungi we work with includeAspergillus flavus which contaminates seed crops worldwide with the carcinogen aflatoxin, Penicillium expansum that contaminates apple with the mycotoxin patulin, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causal agent of White Nose Syndrome of bats and the human pathogen A. fumigatuscausing invasive aspergillosis, a disease with a mortality rate ranging from 50 to 90%.
Trainees
No current MET students or past MET students.