Mucormycosis Research

Check out the video message below From Dr. Walsh and learn more about our research partnerships to support finding better outcomes for mucormycosis & fungal infection patients.
2018 video message from Dr. Walsh is below!
Thanks to our donors’ support through generous contributions, the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation supports groundbreaking fungal infection research that is critical to conquering the medical challenges that those affected face. We have partnered with leading researchers and institutions to ensure a life-changing path for the future. Check out some of their research initiatives and successes below.

October 11, 2017 Letter from Dr. Thomas Walsh to the Foundation:

“Training and education of health care workers in mucormycosis is a key component of my mission as the Henry Schueler Foundation Scholar.

I represented the US and the Henry Schueler Foundation yesterday (10-10-17) as the only American physician-scientist in a two-day course on invasive fungal infections in children and neonates sponsored by the European Confederation for Medical Mycology (ECMM) and the Federation of European Microbiology Societies (FEMS). The first day was devoted to mycoses in children and the second day to neonates.

I prepared and gave a new lecture on risk factors and clinical manifestations of neonatal fungal infections. One-half of my lecture was devoted to neonatal mucormycosis, which is different in infants than in older children. The lecture was well received and my contributions to the discussions in other sections of the course were enthusiastically welcomed. Two of my former mentees, Drs. Emmanuel Roilides and Andreas Groll, participated in the first day. You know Dr. Roilides from the first Henry Schueler Foundation Forum in Mucormycosis.

The meeting was highly successful and led to potentially productive research collaborations for our work in mucormycosis.

From a logistical standpoint, as these are rare diseases, the budget was limited to reimbursement for hotel expenses. I therefore used my United frequent flyer mileage for the air travel and justified my time to Weill Cornell from support by the Schueler Foundation.

Enclosed are some of the links for the courses and attached are my lecture abstract, as well as the Abstract and Program for the neonatal course.”

Training Course “Paediatric Mycology”

5th DTFD: Fungal infection in neonates

Diagnosis and Therapy of Fungal Diseases – 5th DTFD

Diagnosis and Therapy of Fungal Diseases

NORD 2016 Rare Impact Award

On May 17, 2016, Matt Schueler, founder of the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation, presented a NORD 2016 Rare Impact Award to Dr. Bernie Zeiher of Astellas for its breakthrough drug, Cresemba. Cresemba has been effectively used to treat mucormycosis, a serious, life-threatening, invasive fungal infection those with weakened immune systems often contract. These awards are provided to recognize individuals, organizations, advocates and companies that are moving us forward in the fight against rare diseases. Watch Matt’s introduction and Dr. Zeiher’s award acceptance here by scrolling to the 28-minute mark.

Research Support for Mucormycosis (Zygomycosis)

Zygomycosis, also known as Mucormycosis, is a disease that attacks cancer patients when their host defenses are compromised by treatment and can be fatal. Through our donors’ generosity, the Foundation was able to publish in 2012 (Oxford University Press) a medical and scientific supplement on Zygomycosis that reached almost 12,000 worldwide medical subscribers.

The Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation sponsored the first international conference on Mucormycosis in Chicago in 2010, which generated this research and paid for the subsequent publication after its acceptance by the prestigious journal, Clinical Infectious Disease (“CID”). It is entitled “Advances Against Mucormycosis: A Tribute to the Memory and Courage of Hank Schueler” and can be viewed here.).

The Supplement was edited by Dr. Thomas Walsh, the Director of the Transplantation-Oncology Infectious Diseases Program at Cornell University Medical Center (Weill-Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital) in New York. It is widely held as the most comprehensive and authoritative body of research on the subject of Mucormycosis in the world.

In 2013, Dr. Walsh was also named as the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation Scholar. This title accompanies all of his correspondence, manuscripts, and other publications and confers greater public awareness of the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation and assists Dr. Walsh in pursuing the Foundation’s mission in Mucormycosis. His mission and ours is to develop new strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of invasive Mucormycosis; increase public awareness of the epidemiology, morbidity and mortality of invasive Mucormycosis; and to provide expert outreach assistance to patients with Mucormycosis, their families, and their physicians.