David Vinson

Lili Tao, MD, PhD, medical director of Mycology and Immunoserology, shows Maggie Weiss a culture plate on which the fungus that causes histoplasmosis is growing. (photo by Susan Urmy)
January 22, 2026

A grateful patient says ‘thank you’ to Vanderbilt Medical Laboratories

The infection can result from inhaling spores of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, which grows in soil throughout Middle Tennessee, especially in soil contaminated with bird or bat droppings. Previously, blood samples had to be sent to a reference lab in Utah.

By Bill Snyder