Clinical Practice and Experience

Professor Richardson qualified in Medical Microbiology (Mycology) in 1972 and gained his PhD in immune responses to Candida albicans from the University of Leeds in 1975. From 1975 to 1980, he was appointed as an MRC Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Microbial Pathogenicity at the University of Birmingham. His role was to work on neutrophil interactions with pathogenic fungi and the development of assays to detect biomarkers of Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans.

In 1980, Professor Richardson was appointed as the Principal Mycologist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and became an Honorary Lecturer in Medical Mycology, University of Bristol. Following this, he became a Consultant Clinical Scientist in Mycology at the Greater Glasgow Health Board, and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Mycology at the University of Glasgow in 1984.

He was appointed as an Associate Professor of Medical Mycology for the University of Helsinki from 1999 to 2009 before joining the University Hospital of South Manchester (now part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust) to take up the position of Head of Service and Consultant Clinical Scientist in Mycology at the Mycology Reference Centre. In 2017, the Mycology Reference Centre became the first European Confederation of Medical Mycology Centre of Excellence (Diamond Status). In addition, Professor Richardson is also an Honorary Professor of Medical Mycology at the University of Manchester.

Research Interests

Professor Richardson’s clinical and laboratory investigations focus on the pathogenicity, diagnosis and epidemiology of superficial and systemic fungal infections. More recently, he has applied his diagnostic experience to investigating the mycobiome of indoor environments using next generation sequencing. He is actively researching mechanisms underpinning fungal disease and allergy in humans, pathogenesis of candidosis, pathogenesis of aspergillosis, new diagnostic platforms for the diagnosis of superficial and systemic fungal infections, the development of point-of-care tests for the diagnosis of systemic fungal infections, improvements in the diagnosis of chronic forms of pulmonary aspergillosis, antifungal properties of reactive oxygen species and mycobiome of the built environment. Professor Richardson is also a NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre infection project lead.

Teaching and Training

Professor Richardson is actively involved in teaching; contributing to the University of Manchester's undergraduate and post-graduate infection programmes. He also provides medical mycology workshops, preceptorships, overseas visitors at the Wythenshawe Hospital Academy.

Summary of Publications

Professor Richardson has published extensively, having published over 470 original articles, book chapters and reviews. He is the author or editor of a number of mycological textbooks and handbooks, many of which have been translated. He

is a frequent speaker and session chair at major international conferences in the fields of clinical microbiology, infectious diseases, and medical mycology. From 2008 to 2014 Professor Richardson was the Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Microbiology. His current editorial activities include being Reviews Editor for ‘Medical Mycology’.

Memberships of Professional Bodies and Learned Societies

International Society of Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM) 

Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) 

Immediate Past-President International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM)

The Royal College of Pathologists (RCATH)

Royal Society of Biology (RSB)

Institute of Specialist Surveyors and Engineers (ISSE)

British Society for Medical Mycology (BSMM)

European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID)

American Society for Microbiology (ASM)