Searching existing medicines for new treatments for Valley fever
Official title: Screening Repurposing Libraries for the Identification of Drugs with Novel anti-Coccidioidal Activity
Funded at University of Texas San Antonio · NIH-11251792 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project is looking for already-approved drugs that can kill the fungi causing Valley fever so people with coccidioidomycosis might have better treatment options.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Texas San Antonio NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Antonio, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2022 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $277,105 |
| NIH project number | 5U19AI166761-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11251792 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for eventual clinical testing would be people diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis, especially those with severe, persistent, or azole-resistant infections.
✕Less likely to help
People without coccidioidomycosis or those whose mild infections respond well to current antifungal treatments are unlikely to benefit directly from this preclinical project.
What this research studies
From a patient's perspective, researchers are testing libraries of approved and experimental drugs against the parasitic spherule form of Coccidioides, which is the form that causes disease in people. They use a lab technique called fungal cytological profiling to detect changes in fungal cell shape, growth, and cell wall structure that signal a drug effect and suggest how a drug works. The team intentionally screens spherules rather than spores or hyphae because spherules better reflect the fungus as it exists in human infection. Promising hits will be followed up with more lab studies and animal testing before any human trials would be considered.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could uncover effective drugs—possibly ones already approved—that treat Valley fever more safely and work against drug-resistant strains.
How similar studies have gone: Drug-repurposing screens have produced useful antimicrobial candidates in other diseases, but applying fungal cytological profiling to Coccidioides spherules is a relatively new approach with limited prior clinical translation.
Where this research is happening
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University of Texas San Antonio
San Antonio, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yu, Jieh-Juen — University of Texas San Antonio
- Study coordinator: Yu, Jieh-Juen
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.