Congratulations to J. Muse Davis, MD, PhD, who was recently awarded a 5-year, K08 grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID), for his project entitled, “Fungal and host factors in initiation of cryptococcal persistence.” This career development award, in the amount of $1,004,400, will focus on experimental mycology to improve our understanding of disseminated fungal infections from both host and pathogen perspectives. Specifically, his research component will use a zebrafish larva model for direct monitoring of microbial pathogenesis in vivo, namely Cryptococcus. The proposed experiments are designed to define the features of the host response that allow for persistence, and to define the state of cryptococcal cells that induce this response. Dr. Davis will be supported by Primary Mentor Anna Huttenlocher, MD, and Co-Mentors Bruce Klein, MD, and Christina Hull, PhD.