Oliver Kurzai

Oliver Kurzai is an expert in clinical microbiology with a focus on invasive fungal infections. His research focuses on virulence properties of fungal pathogens, antifungal drug resistance and host immunity. In 2020, Professor Kurzai received the research main award of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM). Since 2014, he is appointed head of the National Reference Center for Invasive Fungal Infections (NRZMyk) located at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology-Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI). From As scientific manager of the Else-Kröner-Center Würzburg Mwanza funded by the Else-Kröner-Fresenius Foundation, he oversees a wide variety of interactions between the partner university medical centers in Würzburg, Germany and Mwanza, Tanzania. These include joint study programs, a student excahnge and bilateral PhD programme as well as a large scale effort to fight schistosomiasis in the islands of Lake Victoria region.