FABI researchers recently hosted a group of colleagues from various parts of the world having a specific interest in fungi that potentially affect the health of animals and humans.  The FABI team was led by Profs Mike and Brenda Wingfield and joined by Prof. Cobus Visagie, Dr Neriman Yilmaz, Dr Janneke Aylward, Dr Nam Pham, Taygen Fuchs and Prof. Francois Roets (Stellenbosch University). Visitors from abroad included Prof. Joseph Heitman, Prof. John Taylor, Prof. Matthew Fisher, Dr Sheng Sun, Dr Marco Dias Coelho and Dr Marcia David Palma, collectively from Duke University (USA), Imperial College (UK) and the University of California, Berkely (USA). Group members made presentations, held discussions and debated matters of common interest including for example the biology and possible origins of the human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans and how this might relate to the recent discovery of numerous cryptic Cryptococcus species associated with insects including Cryptococcous wingfieldii. Other topics of common interest concerned mycotoxigenic fungi, insect and wood associated fungi such as Sporothrix schenckii and its relatives and Coccidioides immitis. The team visited areas of the Western Cape were some of these fungi have been discovered and collectively worked on a draft publication regarding fungal threats to human health and well-being.