Tristan Brandhorst, PhD

Klein Lab at the University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

Tristan Brandhorst, PhD has been studying the physiology of pathogenic fungi for 20 years in the Klein lab at the University of Wisconsin Madison, with research into fungal metabolites, toxicity factors, and mechanisms of virulence. When his research group literally stumbled upon evidence that the fungicide fludioxonil did not work by its widely accepted, “safe” mechanism, he began increasingly dedicating his time and research focus to its study. Dr. Brandhorst’s research indicates that the complexity of pesticide effects on cells and enzymes in the body, and organisms generally, are not understood to the extent that they should be. He published his findings that fludioxonil act on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells.