Cramer Lab
Principal Investigator: Robert Andrew Cramer
Institution: Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH)
Primary Subfield: Immunology
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project Summary. The advent of molecular therapies for cancer and autoimmunity have led to a rise in the number of serious infections caused by environmental microbes, exemplified by invasive aspergillosis (IA). While Aspergillus fumigatus is normally a benign environmental saprophyte, this ubiquitous mold can cause life-threatening invasive disease in the setting of leukopenia and/or high dose corticosteroid treatment. Fungal pathogenicity in leukopenic or corticosteroid-treated populations is historically thought to be a global property of all environmental A. fumigatus strains, based on their common property of reaching terminal airways and growing at human body temperatures. Recent bedside to bench research from our laboratories is challenging this long-standing paradigm of A. fumigatus strain-agnostic pathogenicity. Patients undergoing pharmacologic inhibition of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) for lymphoid malignancies have an unexpected risk for IA. However, murine model studies to define the mechanism of A. fumigatus susceptibility during BTK inhibitor therapies revealed a striking fungal strain-specific pathogenicity. Standard pathogenic reference strains that are highly vi…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01AI191067-02: Fungal Pathogenicity Determinants through the Lens of Immune-Targeted Cancer Therapies (2026)
- 5R01AI181215-03: Optimization and chemical biology of novel antifungals to combat azole resistant mould infections (2026)
- 5R01AI130128-09: Evolution of Aspergillus fumigatus virulence (2026)
- 5P30DK117469-09: Pilot Project Program (P3) (2026)
- 1R01AI191067-01: Fungal Pathogenicity Determinants through the Lens of Immune-Targeted Cancer Therapies (2025)
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