Rate My Professor Paul Dyer

Dyer's research specializations encompass fungal biology and genetics, with a focus on the molecular and physiological processes controlling sexual reproduction in ascomycete fungi, including the evolution of sexuality and asexuality, mating-type genes, pheromone and signaling pathway genes, and hormonal factors. He investigates population biology of fungi, including lichens, covering breeding systems, population variation, biodiversity, and non-genotypic variation in yeast. Additional areas include the molecular genetic basis of fungicide resistance and molecular diagnostics in fungal pathogens, as well as fungal genomics involving bioinformatic and post-genomic analyses and genome sequencing of lichen-forming fungi. He has received the Berkeley Award from the British Mycological Society in 1999 for outstanding contributions to mycology and pathology research and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2017. Key publications include 'Evidence for Sexuality in the Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus' (Current Biology, 2005), 'Sexual development and cryptic sexuality in fungi: insights from Aspergillus species' (FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 2012), 'Population genomics confirms acquisition of drug-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus infection by humans from their environment' (Nature Microbiology, 2022), and 'The human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus can produce the highest known number of meiotic crossovers' (eLife, 2023). His work has advanced understanding of fungal reproduction, genetics, and pathogen resistance, with collaborations including Prof. Peter Crittenden, Prof. David Archer, Prof. Simon Avery, and Prof. Matt Dickinson.