Professor Julian Naglik

Professor Julian Naglik graduated with a BSc from the University of East London in 1992 and obtained his Ph.D. from King’s College London in 2001, studying the expression of the secreted aspartyl proteinases in Candida albicans infections.  He was appointed Lecturer in 2006, Reader in 2013 and Professor in 2016.

Previously, he also undertook roles as a visiting research scientist at the Robert Koch Institute (Berlin, Germany) as well as the University of California San Francisco. 

Julian is currently Professor of Fungal Pathogenesis and Immunology in the Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions, Faculty of Dental, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London.  

His current research projects relate to the molecular analysis of host/pathogen interactions at mucosal surfaces, with specific focus on epithelial mechanisms activated by the human fungal pathogen C. albicans.  His laboratory described the danger response signalling pathways activated by the invasive hyphal form of C. albicans, which recently was found to be due to the secretion of candidalysin.  

Candidalysin is the first cytolytic peptide toxin identified in any human fungal pathogen and has been recognised as a seminal advance in the microbiology field.  His research is supported by grants from the Medical Research Council (MRC), Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Wellcome Trust.

As well as being a patent holder, Professor Naglik is an academic editor for numerous journals and has received awards from King's College London, the German Mycological Society, Heinz Maurer-Prize award, and the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology. He is also an Honorary Member of the British Society of Medical Mycology.