FRESNO -- Dr. Erin Gaab, a researcher with the UC Merced Health Sciences Research Institute, was unaware of valley fever until about a year ago when doctors from Central California Children's Hospital visited her and spoke of how the disease has affected their young patients.
Rey Leon, founder and executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Advancement Project, contracted valley fever seven years ago after he was misdiagnosed twice. Later, he discovered that at least five relatives had suffered from coccidioidomycosis, also known as valley fever.
The focus of the six-hour Valley Fever Research Day -- hosted by the University of California, Merced, UC San Francisco Fresno Medical Education Program and California State University, Fresno -- was to come up with specifics on how the three institutions could work together to combat valley fever.
"We have some realistic projects that we can work on now," said Gaab. "And we have created networks between universities and between advocacy groups and researchers that will move forward and create great outcomes for us."
Read the full article on The Bakersfield Californian website.
