Candidaand Candidosis today: where are we, and where to go? The Interdisciplinary Forum on Candidosis (IFOCAN) 2005, Göttingen (Germany), 23–25 September 2005

Although new molecular diagnostic tools have been introduced, and improved antifungal agents such as new generation triazoles and the echinocandins are now available, the mortality rate of systemic candidosis in high risk patients is still intolerably high. The emerging resistance to antifungal drugs of Candida albicans and the increasing significance of intrinsically resistant non- albicans Candida species in human infections are a major concern. Unfortunately, comprehensive epidemiological data for Germany and Europe are fragmentary. The completion of two genome projects have made the diploid genome sequence of C. albicans (May 2002) and the haploid genome sequence of Candida glabrata (July 2004) available to the scientific community. Postgenomic approaches, including transcriptional and proteomic methodologies for the study of gene functions have shed light on features such as virulence factors, morphogenetic plasticity and signal transduction. Understanding the molecular basis of pathogenic mechanisms is an obvious prerequisite for any significant progress in the diagnosis and treatment of Candida infections and in unravelling the interactive processes between fungal pathogen and host. During the Interdisciplinary Forum on Candidosis (IFOCAN) 2005, held at the Institute of Medical Microbiology of the University of Gottingen, Germany from 23 to 25 September 2005, internationally recognized Candida scientists and renowned clinicians with expertise in medical mycology exchanged their views on the current status, essential future developments, and opportunities in research, diagnosis and therapy of Candida infections. The meeting was a collaborative effort of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM), section Eukaryotic Pathogens, members of the Priority Programme on Human Pathogenic Fungi (SPP 1160) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), and the German National Reference Centre for Systemic Mycoses. The German Reference Centre for Systemic Mycoses has established a network of 40 laboratories distributed across Germany to study the epidemiology of invasive Candida infections and the current resistance situation (Margarete …