Pioneer of Medical Mycology: In Memory of Prof. Friedrich Staib, MD, DVM.

At the beginning of Friedrich Staib's academic career in the 1950s, medical mycology was a young discipline in Germany. He studied veterinary and human medicine, earning two doctorates. Initially fascinated by the changes in intestinal flora caused by the newly emerging broad-spectrum antibacterials, i.e., the selection of fungi. In 1953, he began setting up a mycological laboratory at the University of Würzburg and qualified as a professor in microbiology in 1962. In 1968, he became the head of the mycology department, which he established, at the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public health Institute in Berlin. His work focused on improving the identification of fungi, both within hosts and the environment. His research on Cryptococcus neoformans (Staib agar indicator medium based on the virulence factor melanin for cultivation) gained him international recognition. He was the first to describe secreted proteases from Candida albicans as a virulence mechanism of the main human fungal pathogen. Later, nosocomial exposure of immunocompromised individuals to Aspergillus fumigatus became an issue for him. He cultivated intensive collaboration with clinicians and pathologists, which had a major influence on his research. Staib's broad interest in fungal diagnostics, virulence factors, and environmental niches of fungal pathogens was groundbreaking for medical mycology in Germany and beyond at a time when systemic mycoses were becoming increasingly important. With his systems thinking, he influenced doctoral students and was a role model for public health.