Brian L. Wickes, Ph.D.

Dr. Brian Wickes’ lab’s major interest is in the area of molecular diagnostics for both bacteria and fungi, basic research on Cryptococcus neoformans with a focus on molecular mechanisms of differentiation, and the molecular and genetic regulation of biofilm formation in Candida sp. His laboratory extensively integrates teaching and instruction into the research program and currently has trainees of all ranks.

• Professional Background

  Education

  • 1997 - Postdoctoral Training - Post Doctoral Scholar - University of California, San Francisco
  • 1992 - PhD - Microbiology - Catholic University
  • 1984 - MS - Microbiology - Catholic University
  • 1980 - BS - Biology - Catholic University

  Appointments

  • 4/2014 - Professor - The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, San Antonio
  • 3/2004 - Research Director - San Antonio Center for Medical Mycology, University of Texas Health Science CenterSan Antonio

• Instruction & Training

  • 8/2019 - 5/2020, Masters' Thesis Directed, UTHSCSA
  • 12/2018 - 5/2020, Masters' Thesis Directed, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
  • 12/2018 - 5/2020, Masters' Thesis Directed, UTHSCSA
  • 8/2014 - Present, Pathogenic Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 1/2006 - Present, Individual Instruction, The University of Texas at San Antonio
  • 9/2001 - Present, Membership on Supervising Committee, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
  • 9/1999 - Present, Individual Instruction, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
  • 8/1999 - Present, Individual Instruction, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
  • 1/1999 - Present, Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 1/1999 - Present, Medical Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 11/1998 - Present, Membership on Supervising Committee, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
  • 6/1998 - Present, Eukaryotic Pathogens, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
  • 5/1998 - Present, Eukaryotic Pathogens, The University of Texas Health Science Center

• Research & Grants

  My laboratory has multiple research programs. The main focus of my research is basic research on Cryptococcus neoformans with an emphasis on molecular mechanisms of differentiation and how genes involved in differentiation effect virulence. We have been studying the mating pathway in this fungus for many years and have characterized many genes in this pathway. Our early investigations focused on the role of mating type in virulence, or more specifically, why one mating type was more virulent than the other mating type.

  Grants

  Federal

  Funding Agency NIH Title Craniofacial Oral-Biology Student Training in Academic Research (CO-STAR) Status Active Period 7/2013 - 7/2023 Role Co-Investigator Grant Detail This proposal is a renewal of the COSTAR training grant, which supports PhDs, dual degree (DDS-PhD), and post-doctoral fellows in the area of craniofacial and dental research and training. Funding Agency National Institutes of Health Title Antifungal Resistance Gene Targeting in Candida glabrata by Target Capture Status Active Period 1/2018 - 12/2020 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail Funding Agency Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio (NAMRU-SA) Title Oligonucleotide Synthesis and DNA Sequencing Status Active Period 9/2015 - 9/2020 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail Funding Agency NIH Title Rapid PCR to Guide Antibiotic Therapy at the Time of Prostate Biopsy Status Active Period 9/2016 - 8/2018 Role Co-Investigator Grant Detail Funding Agency NIH/NIAID Title A97, ?Gender Differences in Murine Models of Fungal Infections ? Aspergillosis?Contract No. HHSN272201000038I / Task Order HHSN2720007 Status Active Period 8/2016 - 7/2018 Role Co-Investigator Grant Detail Funding Agency NIH/NIAID Title ?Therapeutics Testing in Murine Models of Fungal Infections ? Aspergillosis, Candidiasis, Mucormycosis? Contract No. HHSN272201000038I / Task Order HHSN27200005. A93 Status Active Period 3/2016 - 10/2017 Role Co-Investigator Grant Detail Funding Agency National Institutes of Health Title Task order A107. Therapeutics Testing in Murine Model of Candidiasis and Aspergillosis. Status Active Period 3/2017 - 8/2017 Role Co-Investigator Grant Detail Funding Agency NIH/NIAID Title Pan Fungal Essential Gene Discovery for Antifungal Targeting Status Active Period 5/2015 - 4/2017 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail

  State

  Funding Agency UTHSCSA, Dept of Pathology, Fungus Testing Laboratory Title Molecular Identification of fungi Status Active Period 6/2005 - 6/2018 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail The purpose of this subcontract is to assist the UTHSCSA Department of Pathology in the identification and epidemiology of fungi using molecular methods. It is an ongoing fee for service project with estimated revenues of $60,000/year to my laboratory from gross revenues to the Dept. of Pathology Fungus testing Laboratory of ~$600,000 per year.

• Publications

  Abstract

  Ganesan, A., Shaikh, F., Peterson, P., Bradley, W., Johnson, B., Bennett, D., Carson, L., Merritt,T., Akers, A., Wells, J., Bialek, R., Tribble, T.R., and B.L. Wickes. Tissue-based molecular diagnostics: A sensitive and specific way for the identification of invasive fungal infections in the combat-related setting; 2018 Oct. (ID Week, 2018. San Francisco, CA). Ganesan, A., Shaikh, F., Peterson, P., Brdaley, W., Johnson, B., Wells, J., Bialek, R., Wickes B.L., Tribble, D.R. Tissue-Based Molecular Diagnostics Evaluation in Combat-Related Invasive Fungal Infections (IFI) Orlando, FL; 2018 Aug. (Military Health System Research Symposium). Liss, M.A.
  Sherril, A.
  Barney, S.
  Yunes, A.
  Sokurenko, E.
  Wickes, B.L. Implementation of a Novel Point of Care PCR Test to Guide Antibiotic Prophylaxis Prior to Transrectal Prostate Biopsy; 2018 May. (2018 American Urological Association Annuial Meeting). Mok, M.Y., Weber III, E.S., Michel, A., Reilly, C.M., Cortes, G.A., Byrne, B.A., Sutton, D.A., Wickes, B.L., Campbell, L.A., and J.M. Groff. Phaeohyphomycosis in White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson) Cultured in California from 2006 to 2015 Due to Veronaea Botryosa Tampa, FL; 2017 Aug. (147th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society). Wiederhold, N.P., Ibrahim, A.S., Warn, P., Najvar, L.K., Wickes, B.L., Kadosh, D.A., Kirkpatrick, W.R., Filler, S., and T.F. Patterson. A U.S. National Institutes of Health Resource for the In Vivo Assessment of Novel Antifungal Compounds and Diagnostic Assays Melbourne, Australia; 2015 May. (19th International Congress on Human and Animal Mycology). Vipulanandan, G., Herrera, M.L., Wiederhold, N., Wickes, B.L. and D. Kadosh
  . Dynamics of Mixed Candida Species Biofilms in Response to Antifungals Boston, MA; 2015 Mar. (93rd American Association for Dental Research Meeting). Lindner, J.R., Sutton, D.A., Wiederhold, N.P., Fothergill1, A.W., Wickes, B.L., Sanders, C., McCarthy, D.I., Wang, Y., Vadlamudi, K., Fu, J., Furmaga, W., H. Fan. Validation of a Molecular Identification Assay for Fusarium species in a CLIA Certified Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory; 2014 Nov. (Asociation of Molecular Pathology, 20th Annual Meeting). Ganesan, A., Wickes, B.L., Blyth, D., Farmer, A., and C. Murray. Are molecular methods more sensitive than conventional culture for identifying invasive molds? Fort Lauderdale, FL; 2014 Aug. (Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS)).

  Electronic/Web Publication

  Wickes, B.L. and N.P. Wiederhold. Diagnosing fungal infections: The not so FUN part of FUNgal pathogenesis 2018 Dec. 2 p.

  Journal Article

  Wiederhold, N.P., Najvar, L.K., Jaramillo, R., Olivo, M., Wickes, B.L., Catano, G., and T.F. Patterson
  . Extended-Interval Dosing of Rezafungin against Azole-Resistant Aspergillus fumigatus Antimic. Ag. Chem 2019 Sep;63(10):e01165-e01119. Biagi, M., Wiederhold, N., Gibas, C., Wickes, B.L., Lozano, V., Bleasdale, S.C., and L. Danziger
  . Development of high-level echinocandin resistance in a patient with recurrent Candida auris candidemia secondary to chronic candiduria Open Forum Infect Dis 2019 Jun;6(7):1-5. Alwan,S.N., Shamran, H.A., Ghaib, A.H., Al-Mayah, Q.S., AL-Saffar, A.J., Bayati, A.E., Arif, H.S., Fu, J., and B.L. Wickes. Genotyping of Cytomegalovirus from Symptomatic Infected Neonates in Iraq Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg 2019 Jan;100(4):957-963. Liss, M., Sherrill, A.J., Barney, S. Yunes, A., Sokurenko, E., and B.L. Wickes. Prospective Assessment Regarding Implementation of a Point-of-Care PCR-Based Detection Method to Guide Antibiotic Use Prior to Prostate Biopsy Compared to Targeted Prophylaxis and Physician Choice Urology 2019 Jan;129:87-91. Ganesan, A., Wells, J., Shaikh, F., Peterson, P., Bradley, W., Carson, M.L., Petfield, J.L., Klassen-Fisher, M., Akers, K.S., Downing, K., Bialek, R., Tribble, D.R., and B.L. Wickes. Molecular Detection of Filamentous Fungi in Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Specimens Obtained From Combat Casualties J. Clin. Microbiol. (In Press) 2019 Jan;. Vipulanandan, G., Herrera, M., Wiederhold, N.P., Li, X., Mintz, J., Wickes, B.L., and D. Kadosh. Dynamics of mixed-Candida species biofilms in response to antifungals J. Dent. Res 2018 Jan;97(1):91-98. Kwon-Chung, K.J., Bennett, J.E., Wickes, B.L., Meyer, W., Cuomo, C., Wollenburg, C.R, Alspaugh, J.A., Bicanic, T.A., Castaneda, E., Chang, Y.C., Chen, J., Cogliati, M., Dromer, F., Ellis, D., Filler, S.G., Fisher, M.C., Harrison, T.S., Kohno, S., Kronstad, J.W., dos Santos Lazera, M., Levitz, S.M., Lionakis, M., May, R.C., Ngamskulrongroj, P., Pappas, P.G., Perfect, J.W., Sorrell, T., Volker, R., Walsh, T.J., Williamson, P.R., Xu, J.P., and A. Casadevall. The Case for Adopting the "Species Complex" Nomenclature for the Etiologic Agents of Cryptococcosis mSphere 2017 Jan;2(1):1-7. Hong, G., White, M., Lechtzin, N., West, N.E., Miller, H., Lee, R., Lovari, R.J., Massire, C., Blyn, L.B., Sutton, D.A., Wickes, B.L., Wiederhold, N.P., and S.X. Zhang. Fatal case of disseminated Rasamsonia infection in a cystic fibrosis patient post-lung transplantation J. Cys. Fib 2017 Jan;16:e3-e7. Alwan, S.N., Al-Saffar, A.J., Bayati, A.H., Kadhim, H.S., Arif, H.S., Ghaib, A.H., Alrawi, L.I., Abdulrudha, S.A., Mohammed, A.H., Saeed, B.M., and B.L. Wickes. Prevalence of Cytomegalovirus in Iraqi Children Int. J. Med. Res. Hlth. Sci 2017 Jan;6(11):113-124. Fu, J., Blaylock, M., Wickes, C.F., Welte, W., Mehrtash, A., Wiederhold, N., and B. L. Wickes. Development of a Candida glabrata dominant nutritional transformation marker utilizing the Aspergillus nidulans acetamidase gene (amdS) FEMS Yeast Res 2016 May;. White, P., Wiederhold, N., Loeffler, J., Najvar, L., Melchers, W., Herrera, M., Bretagne, S., Wickes, B.L., Kirkpatrick, W., Barnes, R., Donnelly, P., and T.F. Patterson. A comparison of the non-culture blood-based tests for diagnosing invasive aspergillosis in an animal model J. Clin. Microbiol 2016 Apr;54(4):960-966. Farmer, A.R., Murray, C.K., Driscoll, I.R., Wickes, B.L., Wiederhold, N., Sutton, D.A., Sanders, C., Mende1, K., Enniss, B., Feig, J., Ganesan, A., Rini, E.A., and T.J. Vento. Combat-related Pythium aphanidermatum Invasive Wound Infection: A Case Report and Discussion of the Utility of Molecular Diagnostics J. Clin. Microbiol 2015 Jun;53(6):1968-1975. Wiederhold, N.P., Najvar, L.K., Matsumoto, S., Bocanegra, R.A., Herrera, M.L., Wickes, B.L., Kirkpatrick, W.R., and T.F. Patterson. Efficacy of the investigational echinocandin ASP9726 in a guinea pig model of invasive pulmonary Aspergillosis J. Infect. Dis 2015 May;59(5):2875-2881. Cho, J.C., Sharma, R.S., Sutton, D.A., Wiederhold, N.P., Sanders, C., Wickes, B.L.,and S.J. Estrada. Fungal arthritis secondary to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides J. Med. Microbiol. Case Rep 2015 Feb;10(1099):1-4. Sue PK, Gurda GT, Lee R, Watkins T, Green R, Memon W, Milstone AM, Zelazny AM, Fahle GA, Pham TA, Gibas CF, Sutton DA, Wickes BL, Wiederhold NP, and Zhang SX. First report of Westerdykella dispersa as a cause of an angioinvasive fungal infection in a neutropenic host Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2014 Dec;52(12):4407-4411. Steckler NK, Yanong RP, Pouder DB, Nyaoke A, Sutton DA, Lindner JR, Wickes BL, Frasca S, Wolf JC, Waltzek TB. New disease records for hatchery-reared sturgeon. II. Phaeohyphomycosis due to Veronaea botryosa Dis Aquat Organ 2014 Oct;111(3):229-238. Romanelli, A.M., Fu, J., Herrera, M.L., and B. L. Wickes. A Universal DNA Extraction and PCR Amplification Method for Fungal rDNA Sequence-Based Identification Mycoses 2014 Oct;57:612-622. Bryan, L., Porter, B.F., Wickes, B.L., Kerwin, S.C., and S.D. Lawhon. Meningoencephalitis in a dog due to Trichosporon montevideense J Comp Path 2014 Aug;151:57-61. Crous PW, Shivas RG, Quaedvlieg W, van der Bank M, Zhang Y, Summerell BA, Guarro J, Wingfield MJ, Wood AR, Alfenas AC, Braun U, Cano-Lira JF, Garcia D, Marin-Felix Y, Alvarado P, Andrade JP, Armengol J, Assefa A, den Breeyen A, Camele I, Cheewangkoon R, De Souza JT, Duong TA, Esteve-Raventos F, Fournier J, Frisullo S, Garcia-Jimenez J, Gardiennet A, Gene J, Hernandez-Restrepo M, Hirooka Y, Hospenthal DR, King A, Lechat C, Lombard L, Mang SM, Marbach PA, Marincowitz S, Marin-Felix Y, Monta?o-Mata NJ, Moreno, G.
  Perez, C.A.
  Perez-Sierra, A.M.
  Robertson, J.L.
  Roux, J.
  Rubio, E.
  Schumacher, R.K.
  Stchigel, A.M.
  Sutton, D.A.
  Tan, Y.P.
  Thompson, E.H.
  van der Linde, E.
  Walker, A.K.
  Walker, D.M.
  Wickes, B.L.
  Wong, P.T.
  Groenewald, J.Z. Fungal Planet description sheets: 214-280 Persoonia 2014 Jun;32:184-306. Wiederhold NP, Sutton DA, Li, D-W, Thompson EH, Wickes BL, Herrera ML, Rhoads SL, Mortensen JE. Stachybotrys eucylindrospora isolated from foreign material following a traumatic eye injury Mycoses 2014 Jun;57:437-441. Kozel TR, Wickes BL. Fungal diagnostics Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2014 Apr;4(4):019299-019299. Langlois DK, Sutton DA, Swenson CL, Bailey CJ, Wiederhol, NP, Nelson NC, Thompson EH, Wickes BL, French S, Fu J, and Peterson SW. Clinical, morphological, and molecular characterization of Penicillium canis, sp. nov., isolated from a dog with osteomyelitis J Clin Microbiol 2014 Apr;52(7):2447-2453. Burnham, C.D., Frobela, R., Herrera, M., and B.L. Wickes. Rapid Ertapenem Susceptibility Testing and Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC) Phenotype Detection in Klebsiella pneumoniae Using Automated Microscopy of Immobilized Live Bacterial Cells Clin Infect Dis 2014 Mar;52(3):982-986.

  Review Article

  Wickes BL. Analysis of a Candida auris outbreak provides new insights into an emerging pathogen J. Clin. Microbiol. (In Press) Invited Review 2020 Jan;. Arastehfar1, A., Wickes, B.L., Ilkit, M., Pincus, D. Daneshnia1, F., Pan, W., Fang, W., and T. Boekhout
  . Identification of mycoses in developing countries J. Fungi Invited Review 2019 Sep;5(4):90-113. Wickes B.L. and N.P. Wiederhold. Molecular Diagnostics in Medical Mycology Nature Communications Invited Review 2018 Dec;9(5135):1-13.