Associate Professor J. Claire Hoving
Affiliations
- Associate Member, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
- Group leader in the AFRICA CMM Medical Mycology Unit, affiliated to the MRC UK Centre for Medical Mycology
- Honorary senior research fellow at the University of Exeter
- Contributing investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa)
- Based in the Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology
Key Expertise
Fungal Infections
Main Research Focus
Claire Hoving is a basic immunologist whose research aims to understand host immune responses to disease with a particular focus on HIV-related opportunistic infections. Fungal infections are often an overlooked clinical and public health issue but cause significant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite their high prevalence, there are very few researchers dissecting the mechanisms of fungal infection in Africa, yet research in this field will provide new insights into protective immunity and may lead to improved treatments for immunocompromised patients. Claire’s group currently investigates the pathogenesis and host immune responses to:
1) Pneumocystis, a common cause of pneumonia and death in patients with advanced HIV disease.
2) Emergomyces africanus, a newly identified fungal pathogen in HIV patients and currently the most commonly diagnosed dimorphic fungal pathogen in these patients in South Africa.
3) Co-infection between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and opportunistic fungal pathogens.
Most Significant Paper Authored in 2024
Emergomyces africanus poses an emerging threat.
Hoving, J. C. (2024)
Deadly fungal infections present a major health challenge in Africa, largely fueled by the high prevalence of advanced HIV disease, limited healthcare access, and the emergence of new fungal pathogens. Emergomyces africanus, a thermally dimorphic fungus, was first identified in South African patients with advanced HIV disease and is fatal if left untreated. This invited review explores current knowledge on the fundamental biology of E. africanus, its interaction with the host immune system, and the ways it exploits immune suppression to establish infection.