Leah Cowen, University of Toronto

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of Toronto profile.

Functional Genomics Fungal Pathogenesis Microbial Genomics Antifungal Drug Resistance Candida Albicans Chemical Genomics Fungal Morphogenesis Antifungal Drug Target Identification

Latest papers

Author Correction: Colistin enhances caspofungin antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus fumigatus by modulating calcium homeostasis and stress responses.
Nature communications · 2025
Colistin enhances caspofungin antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus fumigatus by modulating calcium homeostasis and stress responses.
Nature communications · 2025
Coupling temperature sensing and development: Hsp90 regulates morphogenetic signalling in Candida albicans.
Virulence · 2010 · senior author

All 3 publications

Latest funding

Selective Targeting of Respiration in Human Fungal Pathogens to Address the Rapidly Escalating Threat of Drug-resistant Infection
CIHR · 2026 · Nominated PI
$100,000
Identifying and characterizing Candida albicans genes that modulate diverse virulence traits
CIHR · 2025 · Supervisor
$120,000
Canada Research Chairs Program Institutional Equity Stipend
CIHR · 2025 · Nominated PI
$19,500

All 55 grants and awards

3 publications.

01

Author Correction: Colistin enhances caspofungin antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus fumigatus by modulating calcium homeostasis and stress responses.

García Carnero LC, Li X, de Castro PA, Pinzan CF, Campanella JEM, Malavazi I, Yoshimura M, Isuhuaylas LAV, Yashiroda Y, Boone C, Osherov N, Fallah S, Davie T, Robbins N, Cowen L, Lu L, Dos Reis TF, Goldman GH

Nature communications2025

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62642-9 PMID: 40817075

02

Colistin enhances caspofungin antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus fumigatus by modulating calcium homeostasis and stress responses.

García Carnero LC, Li X, de Castro PA, Pinzan CF, Campanella JEM, Malavazi I, Yoshimura M, Isuhuaylas LAV, Yashiroda Y, Boone C, Osherov N, Fallah S, Davie T, Robbins N, Cowen L, Lu L, Dos Reis TF, Goldman GH

Nature communications2025

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60991-z PMID: 40592863

03

Coupling temperature sensing and development: Hsp90 regulates morphogenetic signalling in Candida albicans.

Shapiro RS, Cowen L

Virulence2010Senior author

DOI: 10.4161/viru.1.1.10320 PMID: 21178413

Selective Targeting of Respiration in Human Fungal Pathogens to Address the Rapidly Escalating Threat of Drug-resistant Infection

Nominated PICIHR2026Project Grant - PA: Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies Research

Principal investigators: Cowen, Leah E

Keywords: Antifungal Drug Development; Antifungal Drug Resistance; Candida Albicans; Candida Auris; Drug Combinations; Functional Genomics; Fungal Pathogen; Mitochondria; Pharmacology; Structure-Guided Drug Design

$100,000

Identifying and characterizing Candida albicans genes that modulate diverse virulence traits

SupervisorCIHR2025DRA : Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral Program (CGRS D)

Principal investigators: Pavlova, Veronika

Keywords: Adhesion; Antifungal Drugs; Candida Albicans; Functional Genomics; Fungal Pathogenesis; Gene Replacement And Conditional Expression (Grace) Library; High-Throughput Screening; Morphogenesis; Thermotolerance; Virulence Factors

$120,000

Canada Research Chairs Program Institutional Equity Stipend

Nominated PICIHR2025Chair: Canada Research Chairs Program Institutional Equity Stipend

Principal investigators: Cowen, Leah E

Keywords: Edi

$19,500

Discovery and characterization of novel natural product antifungals

SupervisorCIHR2025Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program

Principal investigators: Yaeger, Luke N

Keywords: Drug Discovery; Fungal Infections; Infectious Disease; Mechanism Of Action; Natural Products

$140,000

Functional Genomic and Chemical Genomic Analysis of Essential Genes in the Human Fungal Pathogen Candida auris

Nominated PICIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: Cowen, Leah E

Keywords: Antifungal Drug Resistance; Antifungal Drug Target Identification; Candida Auris; Chemical Genomics; Essential Gene Function; Functional Genomics; Fungal Pathogenesis; Haploinsufficiency Profiling; Machine Learning; Microbial Genomics

$1,357,876

University of Toronto Application to EDI Stipend

Principal investigatorNSERC2024Canada Research Chair EDI Stipend

Principal investigators: Cowen, Leah

$19,500

EDI Stipend

Nominated PICIHR2024Chair: Canada Research Chairs Program Institutional Equity Stipend

Principal investigators: Cowen, Leah E

Keywords: Ed

$19,500

Assessing the potential of targeting the casein kinase 1 (CK1)-like kinase Yck2 to combat antifungal resistance in fungal pathogens

SupervisorCIHR2024Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Principal investigators: Yiu, Bonnie

Keywords: Anti-Virulence; Antifungals; Candida Albicans; Casein Kinase; Drug Development; Drug Resistance; Fungal Pathogens; Kinases Inhibitors

$120,000

University of Toronto Application to EDI Stipend

Principal investigatorSSHRC2024Canada Research Chairs - EDI Stipend

Principal investigators: Cowen, Leah

$11,000

The Inclusive Entrepreneurship Network (IEN): Inspire, Elevate, Empower

Co-investigatorNSERC2023Lab to Market grants

Principal investigators: Jacobs, Lesley

$200,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Charles Boone

Donnelly Centre

2 shared papers, latest 2025

Write to this professor

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Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2026

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Functional Genomics Dear Professor Cowen, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Author Correction: Colistin enhances caspofungin antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus fumigatus by modulating calcium homeostasis and stress responses." (2025), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Selective Targeting of Respiration in Human Fungal Pathogens to Address the Rapidly Escalating Threat of Drug-resistant Infection" (2026), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]