Sirida Youngchim

“Sirida Youngchim received a Ph.D. (Medical Mycology) from King’s College London, Uk in 2004. Currently, she is a faculty at the department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Her ongoing research is focused on Talaromyces (Penicillium) marneffei including rapid diagnosis and virulence factor of this fungus. For rapid diagnosis, the 4D1 monoclonal antibody (a mouse IgG1) is specific to antigen of T. marneffei only, and applied into a new T. marneffei diagnostic assay, a lateral flow immunochromatography assay was developed. Her study is also characterized of a novel yeast phase-specific antigen expressed during In vitro thermal phase transition of T. marneffei. For virulence factor, fungal melanin is investigated to confirm the role of melanin in fungal pathogenesis.”