The 8th International Conference on Cryptococcus and Cryptococcosis (ICCC) was held in downtown Charleston, South Carolina,USA at the Francis Marion Hotel. The meeting’s organizer, Maurizio Del Poeta (Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA), offered a warm welcome and encouraged the continued collaborative efforts and collegiality of the Cryptococcus scientific community. Dr Del Poeta also expressed appreciation over the presence of graduate students and postdoctoral students despite the current funding situation. With 261 participants, the meeting facilitated opportunities for discussions with leading investigators researching diverse aspects of Cryptococcus biology and pathogenesis. Due to space constraints, this brief overview highlights only a few of the oral presentations describing new developments in Cryptococcus biology since the 7th ICCC meeting held in 2008.