The Lucille K. Georg ISHAM Medal.

Business Editors

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2003

The awards committee of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology announces the selection of John W. Taylor of the University of California and Michael R. McGinnis of the University of Texas Medical Branch as recipients of the 2003 Lucille K. Georg ISHAM Medals in recognition for their outstanding scientific achievement in the field of medical mycology.

The Lucille K. Georg Medal is the Society's most prestigious award for scientific excellence. Two awards are presented every three years at the ISHAM Congress, which will be held in San Antonio May 25-29, 2003. The medals honour the contributions of the late Dr. Georg, an expert on dermatophytes, a founding member of the mycology laboratory at the CDC, former President of the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas, and one of the world's most productive and influential medical mycologists.

Dr. John W. Taylor has helped pioneer the use of DNA variation to study the evolution of medically important fungi, including, Coccidioides immitis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Penicillium marneffei, Sporothrix schenckii, and Aspergillus fumigatus. He and his colleagues at Berkeley, where he is professor of Plant and Microbial Biology, have used DNA variation to show that traditional, morphological fungal species harbour several "cryptic species", which may have very different behaviour as human pathogens. They have used the same DNA variation to demonstrate that fungi thought to be clonal (the Fungi Imperfecti or Deuteromycota), in fact, enjoy the benefits of sexual reproduction. The Berkeley group also has used DNA data to investigate historical events, suggesting a role for humans in the migration of pathogenic fungi in and out of Latin America as well as a role for climate in driving epidemics of coccidioidomycosis in California.

Taylor notes that he has a deep debt to his students and postdoctoral associates, and that he has benefited greatly from collaborations with medical mycologists at home and abroad, support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and the National Science Foundation, and a long partnership with Dr. Thomas J. White and colleagues, then at Roche Molecular Systems.

Taylor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the California Academy of Science, and this year is President of the Mycological Society of America.

Michael R. McGinnis PhD, is Professor in the Departments of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, and Dermatology, and is a member of the Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas USA. His primary area of research deals with the pathogenesis of indoor mould related disease and the biosystematics and morphogenesis of pleomorphic dematiaceous fungi that cause opportunistic mycotic infections. In addition, the effect of microgravity upon fundamental processes of yeasts is of special interest. He has served as Chief Editor, Medical Mycology; Editor, Journal of Clinical Microbiology; Founding Editor, Current Topics in Medical Mycology; Cofounder, Doctor Fungus web site; Chair, Mycologia Memoirs Board of Editors, Mycological Society of America; Member, Editorial, Advisory Board, Review of Medical and Veterinary Mycology; President, ISHAM; Vice President, ISHAM; Chair, Division F (medical mycology), ASM; Chair, Mycology Standards and Examination Committee, American Board of Medical Microbiology; Secretary, International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi, IUMS; member, Special Committee for Fungi and Lichens (nomenclature), International Association for Plant Taxonomy; member, NASA Fundamental Biology Study Panel, Mars 2003-2005 Program; Certificate of Appreciation, Japanese Society of Medical Mycology; Meridian Award for Clinical Mycology; Honoured Alumnus, California State Polytechnic University; Carlyn Halde Foundation Lecturer; Maxwell Littman Lecturer; Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America; Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology; published 7 books and 360 scientific contributions of various types.

Presentation of the Medals will be made at the Welcome Reception of the 15th Congress of the International Society for Animal Mycology to be held in the Marriott Rivercenter, San Antonio, Texas on Sunday May 25, 2003 at 7:00 pm.