BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//eluceo/ical//2.0/EN
VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:7ded18ba2b7634abd13dd9c379c7aae8
DTSTAMP:20260531T014028Z
SUMMARY:Imperial Fungal Science Network | Seminar Series | ECR Talks
DESCRIPTION:The Imperial Fungal Science Network is a hub for the mycology c
 ommunity\, providing a leadership\, advocacy and communications platform f
 or mycologists and a developmental framework for future leaders in fungal 
 research.  We welcome you to the Imperial Fungal Science Network – Sem
 inar Series 2026 for a seminar programme highlighting the work of Early Ca
 reer Researchers.\n \nSeminar | ECR Talks | 12:00– 13:00 | Thursday 19th
  February\n📍G47\, Flowers Building\, South Kensington Campus\, London S
 W7 2AZ  find us at Map/3A\n\nIn-person & online (via Teams\, click ‘L
 ivestream’ button on LHS)\nNo registration required\nThis is a hybrid ev
 ent 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 u
 sing an organisation email contact where possible\, thanks.\n\nSchedule\n1
 1:30\nArrivals & refreshments\n11:55\nTeams link opens for online attendee
 s\n12:00-12:05\nIntroductions & Network overview (Prof. Darius Armstrong-J
 ames)\n12:05-13.05\nSPEAKER PROGRAMME:\nBiotechnology and engineering\nShi
 rin Bamezai (Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein and Microbial Food Hub\,
  Department of Bioengineering\, Imperial College London)\nMetabolic engine
 ering of Yarrowia lipolytica for the bioproduction of food-system relevant
  compounds\nThe global food system struggles to meet rising demand while p
 rotecting human and planetary health.  Microbial biomanufacturing offers 
 a resilient alternative to costly\, low-yield plant extraction.  This tal
 k presents two strategies expanding the metabolic capabilities of Yarrowia
  lipolytica\, specifically engineering the yeast to produce a range of nat
 ural food colourants\, and developing a co-culture system for ginger essen
 tial oil bioproduction\, a promising biocontrol alternative to synthetic a
 grochemicals.\n—\nPathogenesis of fungal diseases\nXinxin Shou (Armstron
 g-James Lab\, Department of Infectious Disease\, Imperial College London)\
 nPathobiology of fungal histamine tolerance in allergic bronchopulmonary a
 spergillosis  \n\nAspergillus fumigatus is a filamentous fungus which c
 an causes types of aspergilloses. During allergic bronchopulmonary aspergi
 llosis (ABPA)\, mast cell histamine release in the airways potentially con
 tributes to local inflammation. We observe that clinical isolates from ABP
 A patients exhibit enhanced growth in histamine-containing medium compared
  to non-allergic isolates. Transcriptomic analysis further revealed that h
 istamine exposure resulted in upregulation of genes encoding copper amine 
 oxidases in A. fumigatus\, suggesting a mechanism for increased histamine 
 tolerance in clinical strains. Here I will present further studies aimed a
 t dissecting mechanisms of histamine tolerance and relevance to survival i
 n vivo and in vitro in allergic immune environments. \n—\nEcology\, evo
 lution and the environment\n\nJ. Miguel Bonnin (Bell Lab\, Department of 
 Life Sciences\, Silwood Park\, Imperial College London)\nCulture collectio
 n coverage gaps in fungi — and what community cryopreservation can do 
 about them \nFungal biobanks mainly consist of pure ‘axenic’ cultures
 \, but many fungi are recalcitrant to conventional isolation approaches. A
 nalysis of global culture collection holdings reveals systematic gaps — 
 particularly among symbiont-dependent and slow-growing taxa — that ‘pu
 re’ culture approaches fundamentally cannot close. I will present experi
 mental evidence showing that complex microbial communities can be cryopres
 erved while retaining fungal viability\, suggesting that community context
  may itself protect organisms that have\, to date\, resisted all isolation
  attempts.\n\n—\n13:05\nClose\n \nResearchers interested in the Network
  can find more information and join the Network via the dedicated website 
 / Follow us @ImperialFungal  (BlueSky\; X/Twitter)               
                                                  
                                                  
                   
URL:https://www.imperial.ac.uk/events/208325/imperial-fungal-science-networ
 k-seminar-series-ecr-talks-3/
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260618T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260618T130000
LOCATION:G47 (ground floor)\, Flowers Building\, South Kensington Campus\, 
 Imperial College London\, London\, SW7 2AZ\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20260618T120000
TZNAME:BST
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
END:VCALENDAR