The Imperial Fungal Science Network is a hub for the mycology community, providing a leadership, advocacy and communications platform for mycologists and a developmental framework for future leaders in fungal research. We welcome you to the Imperial Fungal Science Network – Seminar Series 2026 for a seminar programme highlighting the work of Early Career Researchers.
Seminar | ECR Talks | 12:00– 13:00 | Thursday 19th February
📍G47, Flowers Building, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ find us at Map/3A
- In-person & online (via Teams, click ‘Livestream’ button on LHS)
- No registration required
- This is a hybrid event to ensure that our non-London members/audience can join for the talks remotely; if you are joining us via the Teams link, please be aware that your email contact may show up to other meeting attendees, please join using an organisation email contact where possible, thanks.
Schedule
11:30
Arrivals & refreshments
11:55
Teams link opens for online attendees
12:00-12:05
Introductions & Network overview (Prof. Darius Armstrong-James)
12:05-13.05
SPEAKER PROGRAMME:
Biotechnology and engineering
Louis Cohen (Stanley Lab, Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London)
“Mycorrhiza-on-a-chip” – developing microfluidic systems for studying root-fungal symbioses
The relationship between plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi is ancient and laid the foundation for terrestrial life on earth. Today, this relationship underpins agricultural yields and ecosystem stability. How individual mycorrhizal fungal hyphae initiate a symbiosis-specific response from plant hosts is still largely unknown. Microfluidic technology is a useful tool to engineer custom simplified microenvironments to monitor these pre-symbiotic interactions in real time, and gain insights into the mechanisms that drive symbiotic crosstalk.
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Pathogenesis of fungal diseases
Dr Lauren Dineen (Armstrong-James Lab, Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London)
Exploring tRNA diversity in yeast using machine learning and direct RNA sequencing approaches
Up until recent decades, tRNA were thought to be passive molecules in translation. We now know that tRNA are important regulatory molecules that influence translation dynamics and other cellular processes. Despite leaps in the field, significant gaps in knowledge of fundamental tRNA biology remain. I will talk about my recent work focused on tRNA diversity within the Saccharomycotina yeast subphylum using both computational and direct RNA sequencing approaches.
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Ecology, evolution and the environment
Dr Marco Balducci (Savolainen Lab, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London)
Can symbiosis underpin local adaptation?
Using metabarcoding and meta-transcriptomics, we examine how Howea palms and their arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) communities vary with host identity and soil environment. Metabarcoding reveals that AMF community composition is structured by both host species and habitat, while meta-transcriptomic analyses show coordinated shifts in fungal function, stress tolerance, and cross-kingdom gene co-expression across soils. Together, these patterns suggest that environmentally structured plant–microbiome interactions contribute to local adaptation in a natural system.
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13:05
Close
Researchers interested in the Network can find more information and join the Network via the dedicated website / Follow us @ImperialFungal (BlueSky; X/Twitter)