CANCELLED – Tomorrow is Here Lecture Series | Creating New Defenses Against Disease: Introducing the Valley Fever Collaborative
THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED.
The new Valley Fever Collaborative combines the strengths of Arizona’s three public universities to advance Valley fever research and clinical care. The statewide network connects experts at the University of Arizona Health Sciences, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University to collaborate and solve an important public health and economic problem in the Southwest.
In April, the Valley Fever Collaborative was awarded $3.3 million in Regents’ Grant funding by the Arizona Board of Regents to start an integrated, statewide research project to identify, characterize and map hotspots and routes of exposure for Valley fever. Six individual projects are underway using a Regents’ Grant funded by the Technology and Research Initiative Fund.
Agenda:
5:30 p.m.
John Galgiani, MD
Director, Valley Fever Center for Excellence, and Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson; Member, BIO5 Institute
Dr. Galgiani will discuss the problem of Valley fever and the history leading up to the creation of the Valley Fever Collaborative, which received $3.3 million in Regents’ Grant funding from the Arizona Board of Regents to support research into Valley fever detection technology, genomics and seasonal outbreak patterns.
5:45 p.m.
Bridget Barker, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University
Dr. Barker will give an overview of how the fungus Coccidioides lives and is identified in the soil. She will discuss the goals and status of Regents’ Grant-funded research that is pairing air and soil sampling to detect seasonal patterns of Valley fever risk.
6 p.m.
Jon Miller
Director, Decision Theater Network, Arizona State University
Mr. Miller will introduce the Decision Theater and talk about how it can partner with the Valley Fever Collaborative to model, simulate and visualize complex problems and support fact-based, data-driven decision making. He will talk about the Valley fever information the Decision Theater hopes to integrate to benefit Arizona residents.
6:15 p.m.
John Galgiani, MD
Director, Valley Fever Center for Excellence, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
Dr. Galgiani will provide updates on the vaccine discovery process, including the status of the canine Valley fever vaccine and the potential for a human product.
6:30 p.m.
Reception
Dr. Galgiani has been studying Valley fever for more than three decades. In 1996, he became founding director of the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence, which was established by the Arizona Board of Regents. Its work encompasses public awareness, clinical guidelines and training, and research into rapid detection methods for the disease as well as collaborative efforts toward development of a vaccine for both animals and humans. Dr. Galgiani earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Stanford University and his medical degree from Northwestern University. He did a internship in internal medicine at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle and continued his residency at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California, as well as a fellowship in infectious diseases at Stanford. He served as chief resident at Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center in San Francisco, before joining the faculty at the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson in 1978.