Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Fungal infections affect billions of people every year, often causing lethal disease in immunocompromised individuals. Of particular concern are invasive fungal infections, estimated to kill one and a half million people annually. Cryptococcus neoformans infections cause almost half of all deaths due to fungal infection. Even with access to the best available antifungals, Cn mortality rates of 20-40% remain unacceptably high. Although natural immunity to fungal infection is quite efficient in immune replete humans, disease in immune deficient individuals is often a complex interaction between failure to control fungal replication and an inappropriate immune response. My research program focuses on understanding how Cryptococcus changes its morphology and interacts with the immune system to cause disease, with the goal of developing better treatment strategies that improve patient survival.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, North Carolina, State Univerisity
Award Date: Jun 1 2007
Research Interest Keywords
- Microbiology
- Infectious diseases
- Mycology
- fungal morphogenesis
- Cell biology
- Molecular biology
- Genetics
- Genomics
- pathogenesis of fungal infections
- host-pathogen interactions
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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The Minnesota IRACDA Program
Greenstein, D. I. (PI), Lane, A. K. (CoI), Nielsen, K. (CoI), Willett, J. (CoI) & Wright, R. (CoI)
NIH NIGMS NATL INST OF GENERAL
9/1/22 → 8/31/25
Project: Research project
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Genomic Research Capacity Building for Cryptococcosis Translational Studies
Nielsen, K. (PI) & Selmecki, A. M. (CoI)
NIH NAT INST OF NEURO DISORDERS & STROKE
9/1/20 → 7/31/25
Project: Research project
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Continuum of Immune Responses to Cryptococcus neoformans
Nielsen, K. (PI)
NIH Nat'l Inst of Allergy & Infect Dis
4/6/23 → 8/10/24
Project: Research project
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11th International Conference on Cryptococcus and Cryptococcosis (ICCC)
Boulware, D. R. (PI) & Nielsen, K. (CoI)
NIH Nat'l Inst of Allergy & Infect Dis
2/1/22 → 1/31/23
Project: Research project
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HLA Alleles and the Progression of Human Cryptococcosis
Nielsen, K. (PI) & Jenkins, M. (CoI)
NIH Nat'l Inst of Allergy & Infect Dis
6/15/20 → 5/31/24
Project: Research project
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Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytokines and Chemokines Involved in Cytotoxic Cell Function and Risk of Acute 14-Day Mortality in Persons with Advanced HIV and Cryptococcal Meningitis
Adjunctive Sertraline for the Treatment of HIV-Associated Cryptococcal Meningitis (ASTRO-CM) Team, Feb 15 2025, In: Journal of Infectious Diseases. 231, 2, p. 521-531 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Scopus citations -
Correction to: Single nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with strain-specific virulence differences among clinical isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans (Nature Communications, (2024), 15, 1, (10491), 10.1038/s41467-024-54729-6)
Jackson, K. M., Kono, T. J. Y., Betancourt, J. J., Wang, Y., Kabbale, K. D., Ding, M., Kezh, P., Ha, G., Yoder, J. M., Fulton, S. R., Mukaremera, L., Tiffin, P., Gusa, A., Meya, D. B., Billmyre, R. B., Xue, C. & Nielsen, K., Dec 2025, In: Nature communications. 16, 1, 2510.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
Open Access -
Pulmonary granuloma formation during latent Cryptococcus neoformans infection in C3HeB/FeJ mice involves progression through three immunological phases
Betancourt, J. J., Ding, M., Yoder, J. M., Mutyaba, I., Atkins, H. M., De la Cruz, G., Meya, D. B. & Nielsen, K., Feb 2025, In: mBio. 16, 2, e03610-24.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
The hypervirulent Type-1/Type-17 phenotype of Cryptococcus neoformans clinical isolates is specific to A/J mice
Ding, M., Jackson, K. M., Harris-Gordon, M., Dileepan, T., Meya, D. B. & Nielsen, K., Apr 2025, In: Infection and immunity. 93, 4Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Virulence-associated variants in Cryptococcus neoformans sequence type 93 are less likely to be associated with population structure compared to independent rare mutations
Jackson, K. M., Kabbale, K. D., Macchietto, M., Meya, D., Tiffin, P. & Nielsen, K., Jan 2025, In: Microbiology Spectrum. 13, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Fellowships, Honors, and Prizes
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Fulbright Regional Travel Award
Nielsen, K. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Fulbright Senior Scholar Award
Nielsen, K. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Women's Career Development Award
Nielsen, K. (Recipient), 2006
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)