Candida, a yeast-like fungus, has become a major cause of life-threatening infection called invasive candidiasis. This disease involves vital organs and often affects hospital patients in intensive care. Largely because of late diagnosis it has a fatality rate of up to 40%, and results in prolonged hospitalisation in survivors. Several thousand cases occur annually in the UK. The aim of this project is to develop novel diagnostic tests that will enable more cases to be diagnosed at an earlier stage of infection, so that effective treatment can be given. It is hoped that these new tests will significantly reduce the frequency of death associated with this increasingly common infection.