A non-UA/non-Banner professional either authorized to be a principal investigator on a sponsored project at their institution or a practicing healthcare professional. Healthcare professional is broadly defined with respect to patient care, public health, or biomedical research.
Collaborative Members
VFCE Collaborative
 Professor, Northern Arizona University
Dr. Bridget Barker received her B.A. in Biology and M.S. in Ecological Genetics from the University of Montana and completed her Ph.D. in Genetics at the University of Arizona in 2009 on genomics of Coccidioides spp. She completed her postdoctoral work at Montana State University. In 2013, she joined the faculty at TGEN-North, and in 2016 she became tenure track faculty at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute (PMI) in the Department of Biological Sciences. In 2020, she was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2024 promoted to full Professor.Her background in microbiology, work with fungal pathogens, and computational biology allowed her to develop and bring these techniques to the field of Valley fever research. |
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Physician, Gilbert Respiratory Associates
I provide care to patients at the ICU, hospital ward and out patient clinic. My work in coccidioidomycosis is focused on appropriate diagnosis, as I have seen a significant number of patients misdiagnosed due to lack of standardized testing. Also, I have an interest in shorter duration of therapy in immunocompetent patients. |
 Biologist, National Institutes of Health
As a bench researcher trained in genetics and genetic diagnostics, I have been interested in the different disease presentations of Valley fever. Our recent work identified common population variants in fungal recognition and response that are associated with escape of the organism from the lung to other sites in the body. In collaboration with the VFCE, I continue to explore the genetics underlying newly diagnosed patients. Additionally, my work now includes studying the interaction between the fungus and the lung epithelium - where initial immune response occurs. |
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Physician, Indian Health Service
I do clinical follow up with patients that have Valley fever. |
 Research Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
We know that sometimes the diagnosis of people potentially infected with the Valley fever fungus is difficult to confirm. Measuring patient antibodies is one prime method to determine if someone is infected. Unfortunately, the current serological assays are not as sensitive or specific to determine the infection status. We are working to identify protein targets of the immune system in people and animals infected with the Valley fever fungus. Identifying these new proteins will improve the diagnostic assays to allow for quicker potential classification of initial diagnosis of disease. In addition, these assays could also improve the tracking of patients to help determine disease progression. |
 Associate Professor, Northern Arizona University
I'm interested in the comparative genomics of Coccidioides with an emphasis on probe enrichment approaches. These efforts will help identify environmental risks for Valley fever exposure. |
 Associate Professor of Pathology, Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
Assistant Dean of Pre-Clinical Education Our medical school is located in southern New Mexico, where the epidemiology and ecology of Valley fever is not well understood, despite the disease being regularly diagnosed in our region. The goals of our research are 1) to document the environmental distribution of Coccidioides posadasii through targeted soil sampling and genomic detection by qPCR, and 2) to develop a better understanding of the exposure rate among the population through serological testing. Ultimately, we aim increase our understanding of Valley fever as a health concern in New Mexico and to expand community awareness and education on the disease. |