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Free and open to the public. There will be a reception at 5 P.M.

Biologist Nicholas Money will introduce the intimate relationship between fungi and humans that includes molds that grow on the skin and billions of yeasts that live in the gut. As Professor Money will explain, the immune system is engaged in a continuous conversation with these fungi, balancing their growth with the needs of our bodies. But when this normally peaceful coexistence is disturbed, we become prey to serious fungal infections or mycoses. This is the yin and the yang of the human-fungus symbiosis. Allergies to airborne spores are another part of this story, along with the development of life-saving drugs produced by molds, and the use of magic mushrooms to treat depression. Professor Money will engage the audience with his spellbinding view of the mycology of the body. 

BIOGRAPHY 

Nicholas Money is an Anglo-American biologist, science writer, and professor of biology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is an international expert on fungal biology and has authored more than a dozen popular science books that celebrate the microbial world. 

SUGGESTED READING 

Money, Nicholas P. A Is for Amoeba: The Story of Life in a Single Cell. Princeton University Press, 2026.

Money, Nicholas P. Fungi and Human Life: The Molds, Mushrooms, and Medicines That Fill Our World. Princeton University Press, 2026.