Rate My Professor Paul Dyer

Paul Dyer is Professor of Fungal Biology in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham. He obtained his BA from the University of Cambridge in 1987 and his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1991. Following his PhD, he joined the University of Nottingham as a Research Associate from 1991 to 1996. He subsequently held a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship from 1996 to 2001 and served as an Australian Antarctic Division Expeditioner in 1999-2000. From 2002 to 2015, he advanced from Lecturer to Reader at the University of Nottingham, and since 2015, he has held the position of Professor of Fungal Biology. His research has been supported by project grants from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the European Union.

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.