RIEL seminar series
Chytridiomycosis and the mechanism of skin disruption (ONLINE ONLY)
| Presenter | Dr Nicholas Wu | |
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| Contact person | E: RIEL.outreach@cdu.edu.au | |
| Location | Online only, via Zoom | |
| Open to | Public | |
Chytridiomycosis, a lethal skin disease caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is responsible for many amphibian declines worldwide. Bd disrupts skin function, interfering with ionic and osmotic regulation. In this seminar, Dr Nicholas Wu will discuss his integrative work on understanding the causal mechanisms behind how the skin function is disrupted from Bd infection and how an under-studied behaviour, sloughing, can help sometimes mitigate or exaggerate pathogen-induced skin disruption.
Dr Wu earned his BSc in biological sciences from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, followed by a PhD in ecological physiology at The University of Queensland. From 2019–2021, he was appointed as a postdoctoral research associate at The University of Sydney, and is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Western Sydney University. His main research area is in ecological and evolutionary physiology, with a focus on how changing environments constrain the physiology and life history of organisms while understanding the mechanisms for how they cope with environmental stressors.
Dr Wu's work primarily utilises vertebrates like reptiles, amphibians, fish, and bats as model systems, and he approaches his research from an integrative perspective, from molecular to whole-organism to macroecological responses.
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