MycoTalks S6 E1: Angie Gelli and Tuo Wang

About our speakers

Angie Gelli, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, where she has been a faculty member since 2003. Born and raised in Canada, and an avid hockey fan, Dr. Gelli received her BSc and PhD from the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral studies at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Gelli’s lab investigates host-pathogen interactions focused on mechanisms driving fungal neuroinvasion. Her lab has generated assays that leveraged in vitro human models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), including 3D organoid BBB models, and in vivo models of fungal pathogenesis to identify key proteins driving neuroinvasion of the highly neurotropic fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans. Recently, Dr. Gelli’s work also involves the discovery and development of peptides as potent antifungal agents via combinatorial chemistry. Dr Gelli’s research led to a patent and a prestigious research award from The Hartwell Foundation that served as a springboard for other current research on mechanisms of BBB dysfunction in aging, dementia, and chemical exposure.

Tuo Wang, PhD, received his BS in Chemistry in 2010 from Nankai University, China, and PhD in Physical Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016 under the supervision of Dr. Mei Hong. After a brief postdoctoral appointment in the research group, Tuo joined the faculty at Louisiana State University as an Assistant Professor in 2017 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021. The following year, he was appointed the Carl H. Brubaker Associate Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University and, in 2025, promoted to the Carl H. Brubaker Professor. Tuo’s research centers on applying high-resolution solid-state NMR techniques to investigate carbohydrate structures in intact and living cells. A significant focus of his work is elucidating cell wall architecture and antifungal defense mechanisms in pathogenic fungi, including Aspergillus, Candida, Cryptococcus, Rhizopus, and Mucor species.