IIT Madras, WSAI & ICMR-NIRRCH Team Up to Fight Against Fungal Infections

WSAI, IIT Madras, and ICMR-NIRRCH researchers have developed a systems biology approach to deal with fungal pathogens. Check details

IIT Madras, WSAI & ICMR-NIRRCH Team Up

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in collaboration with ICMR-NIRRCH, has developed a data-driven technique to fight the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. The research was led by Prof. Karthik Raman (WSAI, IIT Madras) and Prof. Susan Thomas (ICMR-NIRRCH, Mumbai), the team combined large-scale computational modelling with experimental validation to find critical metabolic weaknesses in the pathogen.

Candida albicans is a species of fungus that generally lives in the human body as part of the normal microbiota. It is commonly found in the mouth, throat, gut, vagina, and on the skin without causing harm in healthy individuals. It causes ‘Systemic candidiasis’, a severe, invasive fungal infection that spreads beyond the mouth, skin, or genital area into the bloodstream and internal organs.

Talking about the importance of this research, Prof. Karthik Raman, Faculty, IBSE, WSAI, IIT Madras, said, “This groundbreaking novel research is vital for diversifying and improving antifungal drugs to bypass resistance. Further it aims to improve patient survival, reduce mortality and lower treatment costs.”

Highlighting the next steps in this research, Prof. Karthik Raman added, “Currently, we have validated the preliminary key findings in animal models, which further need to be validated to understand more detailed mechanistic studies. Next steps would include collaboration with clinical partners to investigate these insights on real-world patient samples and the industry to develop these findings into antifungal treatments. As a whole, the findings underline India’s growing strength in interdisciplinary research and its potential to contribute solutions.”

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