CURRENT PROJECTS

CRISPR technology and molecular biology

The Barker group is now funded by two U19 grants from NIH/NIAID. The work supports several institutions, including NAU, UCSF, UC-Berkeley and UC-Davis. For more information see NIH reporter:
​U19 UCSF
U19 NAU Core​
U19 NAU Project 1

Soil Ecology and Prevalence and Prediction of Valley Fever

An ABOR funded grant with our sister Arizona institutions ASU and UA will allow us to monitor Coccidioides in soil over a 3 year period, including data from soil, air and patients.
​A collaboration with Dr. Anita Antoninka in the Department of Forestry is allowing us to use molecular techniques to detect Coccidioides ​in soil and determine effects of desert biocrust on Cocci spore prevalence.

Morphological switching and Implications for Virulence

The ability of Coccidioides to change morphology in response to environmental changes has implications for infection and sexual recombination. A recent NIH/NIAID R21 grant supported this work. We have discovered the sexual cycle for the organism and are in process of completing work for publication

Students

Students interested in graduate studies see NAU grad college and contact Dr Barker for more information. Currently we are not accepting new graduate students, but will consider for FALL 2026

​Undergraduate students please apply through the PMI website, and specify interest in Coccidioides research.

INFO for Citizen Scientists

We are collecting data from owners of dogs living in the endemic regions 

Please contact us on Meta!

Publications

All pubs at GOOGLE SCHOLAR
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​Kala M, Ndiaye MDB, Kelley E, Harvey M, Babur F, Grischo G, Marshall JS, Yi J, Engelbrektson AL, Altin JA, Barker BM, Keim P, Knox KS, Settles EW. Identification of Coccidioidomycosis immunoreactive peptides that recall T-cell responses indicating past exposure. J Infect Dis. 2025 Mar 17:jiaf118. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaf118. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40094390.

The Barker Lab is interested in all aspects of Coccidioides biology. We study fungal pathogenesis, genomics and ecology. We are striving to improve our knowledge of the ecological niche of Coccidioides in soil by using molecular techniques for detection and predict the presence of Coccidioides in soil. Coccidioidomycosis, or Valley Fever, is caused by soil dwelling dimorphic fungi that are endemic to the Americas. The most common route of infection is inhaling airborne fungal arthroconidia that are present in the environment. Being exposed to environmental Coccidioides arthroconidia often leads to an asymptomatic infection. In many cases pulmonary coccidioidomycosis can lead to the development of asymptomatic benign nodules. It has been estimated that at least 30% of lung nodules biopsied in the endemic region are caused by coccidioidomycosis. When pulmonary coccidioidomycosis is symptomatic, the clinical presentation mimics flu-like illness. Even in endemic regions, it is estimated that misdiagnosis of coccidioidomycosis as viral or bacterial pneumonia occurs in 30% of patients. If the acute infection does not resolve, it can progress to severe disease, and the factors influencing this outcome are unknown.

If you are interested in joining our lab group, We are considering NEW graduate students for enrollment in FALL 2026

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