Sara Gago Prieto is a medical mycologist at the Manchester Fungal Infection Group (MFIG) at the University of Manchester. Her work addresses the mechanistic basis of fungal lung diseases with a view to developing new diagnostics and treatments. Most recently, her research is focused on combinatorial impacts of host and pathogen factors leading to pulmonary fungal infections. She has more than 10 years’ experience in developing model systems to investigate the mechanisms of fungal infections and the molecular tests to diagnose them.
Her expertise in Medical Mycology is globally recognised as evidenced by contributions to the list of essential medicines of the WHO, election as a vice-president of the International Society of Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM), numerous invitations to present at national and international meetings, consultancy work with industry, invitations to editorial boards, grant panels and more than 30 research publications. She is highly committed to ensure these scientific outputs form the basis of a research-lead teaching portfolio for Biosciences programmes at the University of Manchester. She has significant experience in leadership roles including being Coinfection in Fungal disease research theme lead in MFIG, Unit Lead for several MSc Programmes at the University of Manchester, she is Deputy Director for PGT recruitment and marketing lead at the School of Biological Sciences. Her distinctive and translational expertise in medical mycology supports the development of innovative tools for improving patient health in fungal infections and facilitate industrial collaborations.