MMSA Announcements

The 2025 spring/summer MMSA travel award recipients have been named! The selection process involved trainees submitting an application based on mycology-inclusive scientific meetings held between March and August ‘25. Abstracts were ranked by merit together with a short letter of support by  PI. The MMSA Leadership Council reviewed the applications. Two travel awards were being sponsored by IMMY for graduate students, one postdoctoral travel award was sponsored by Tom Patterson in honor of Michael Rinaldi, and one additional graduate student travel award was made possible from generous donations from the industry sector. We are happy to announce the following winners.
 
IMMY sponsored graduate student travel awards:
 
Maria Brochero, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, laboratory of Amariliz Rivera, to attend the Phagocyted GRC in New Hampshire.
 
Sarah Saeger, UTSA, laboratory of Chiung-Yu Hung, to attend ASM Microbe in Los Angeles, CA
 
 Michael Rinaldi postdoctoral travel award
 
Olivia Hepworth, Harvard Medical School, laboratory of Jay Vyas, to attend the Coccidioidomycosis Study Group Meeting in Phoenix, AZ.
 
MMSA graduate student travel award
 
Isabel Jimenez, Johns Hopkins University, laboratory of Arturo Casadevall, to attend ISHAM in Iguazu Falls, Brazil
 
Join us on behalf of MMSA in congratulating the recipients of these travel awards!

 2025 MMSA Virtual Symposium 

The 2025 virtual MMSA Awards/Scientific Symposium to honor our 2025 MMSA award recipients and recent AAM/AAAS Fellow inductees will take place on Thursday June 26, 2025 starting at 12 PM Eastern on Zoom. We will have a series of short award presentations and scientific talks. We expect the event to last 3.5 to 4 hours. 

Only registrants will be sent the Zoom link for the event. So please register at your earliest convenience. 

Register in advance for this meeting: 2025 MMSA Symposium Registration After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

Jessica Brown, President 
Amariliz Rivera, President-Elect 
Minh-Hong Nguyen, Vice President 
Kevin Fuller, Secretary 
Karen Wozniak, Treasurer 
Sophia Koo, Councilor East 
Luis Martinez, Councilor East 
Jesus Romo, Councilor West 
Soo Chan Lee, Councilor West
Rebecca Shapiro, Councilor North 
Leah Cowen, Councilor North 
Allan Guimaraes, Councilor Latin America 
Hector Mora Montes, Councilor South America 

 2025 INVITATION TO NOMINATE FOR MMSA MERIT AWARDS 

The MMSA continues to recognize achievements in medical mycology through several awards which are presented this year at the annual MMSA virtual symposium (details TBA). 

MMSA recognizes accomplishments in medical mycology through several awards which are presented this year at the annual MMSA virtual symposium (details TBA). We invite nominations of worthy candidates for these awards, as outlined below. Awardees are selected by committees of MMSA members on the basis of a nomination letter, additional letters of support from colleagues, nominee’s research achievement, and a CV of the nominee. Complete details, including past awardees, can be found here: http://www.mycologicalsociety.org/awards 

Those interested in submitting nominations should be current MMSA members and are strongly encouraged to contact the chairs of the selection committees to prevent any duplication of nominations. The MMSA strongly encourages nominations of women and historically underrepresented minority scientists for these awards. 

Nominations are due Friday May 2, 2025! 

Rhoda Benham Award This award honors the illustrious career of Dr. Benham in both education and research and recognizes recipients for their continuously outstanding or meritorious contributions to medical mycology. Nominations should be sent to Dr. Jessica Brown: [email protected] 

Billy H. Cooper Award This award is presented to an individual for continuous outstanding achievement in clinical mycology. Nomination packages should be sent to Dr. Luis Martinez: [email protected] 

Thomas J. Walsh Award The Walsh award recognizes a junior faculty member for their distinguished early-career achievements and potential for future contributions. Nominations should be sent to Dr. M. Hong Minh: [email protected] 

Milton Huppert Graduate Student Award This award recognizes the accomplishments of an outstanding graduate student working in medical mycology. Nominations should be sent to Dr. Jesus Romo: [email protected] 

Leadership Council 
Jessica Brown, President 
Amariliz Rivera, President-Elect 
M. Hong Minh, Vice President 
Kevin Fuller, Secretary 
Karen Wozniak, Treasurer 
Luis Martinez and Sophia Koo, Councilors East 
Soo Chan Lee and Jesus Romo, Councilors West 
Leah Cowen and Rebecca Shapiro, Councilors North 
Allan Guimaraes, Councilor Latin America 
Hector More Montes, Councilor South America