Thomas Patterson
University of Texas at San Antonio, TX·Microbiology & Immunology
Valley fever, known medically as coccidioidomycosis, is a lung infection caught by inhaling spores of soil fungi in the Coccidioides group. It is concentrated in the desert Southwest of the United States, affects travelers who pass through, and is becoming more common.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Pharmacology
- Topics
coccidioidomycosis
Valley fever
Coccidioides immitis
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2026
What they work on
- Determine whether reduced laboratory susceptibility to azole antifungals predicts poorer treatment response in living hosts, by treating mice with pulmonary and central nervous system coccidioidomycosis caused by susceptible versus resistant Coccidioides isolates.
- Evaluate novel compounds identified by the program's screening effort against azole-resistant Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii in mouse models of lung and brain infection, advancing the best candidates for testing alongside vaccine strategies.
- Correlate minimum inhibitory concentrations for fluconazole and other azoles with clinical outcomes in patients identified from a susceptibility database, through retrospective chart review that also accounts for host factors and extent of disease.
- Measure whether azole minimum inhibitory concentration patterns among Coccidioides isolates are shifting over time, to establish whether reduced susceptibility is a continuing and growing clinical problem.
More about the research
Fluconazole, a member of the azole drug family, is the usual treatment for mild and moderate cases. A large laboratory survey by this group found that 37.8% of patient fungal samples were less sensitive to fluconazole in the dish. Whether that laboratory resistance actually translates into treatment failure in a person has never been established, leaving clinicians unsure when to keep using fluconazole and when to switch.
Why it matters
Clinicians treating Valley fever currently cannot tell whether a laboratory report of reduced fluconazole susceptibility means the drug will fail their patient. By pairing mouse models of lung and brain infection with a retrospective review of real patient outcomes, this project could supply the evidence needed to guide when to continue azole therapy and when to change course. Testing new compounds against resistant isolates may also point toward alternatives for difficult cases.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jessica Hargarten
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Characterize how deficiency in MTOR, the signaling enzyme that senses nutrients and controls immune cell growth and metabolism, affects susceptibility to Cryptococcus infection using established murine models of pulmonary and central nervous system cryptococcosis.
Anita Sil
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Microbiology & Immunology
Define how the Ryp1–4 transcription factors and the heat shock pathway, including the chaperone Hsp90, work together to drive temperature-triggered yeast growth and virulence in Histoplasma capsulatum.
Berthony Deslouches
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine how the cationic (positively charged) and hydrophobic motifs of engineered PAX peptides each contribute to recognizing and killing bacteria, by designing peptide series that vary one valine and one arginine at a time.
The school
University of Texas at San Antonio: 10 labs on PI Pages, $172M a year on research, 129 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.