Candidate 1 of 1 for Secretary

Emily Higgins Keppler, PhD

I am applying for the position of Secretary of the Coccidioidomycosis Study Group (CSG) as the organization’s mission aligns directly with my professional trajectory and my experience positions me to support the Board’s governance responsibilities with rigor, transparency, and institutional continuity.

My scientific career has been centered on advancing the understanding and diagnosis of Valley fever. My doctoral research at Arizona State University (ASU) focused on identifying volatile biomarkers for a Valley fever breath test, and I currently serve as an Assistant Research Scientist at ASU and Senior Research Technologist at Mayo Clinic Arizona, where I continue to work on breath biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring Coccidioides infection. I have presented this work at multiple CSG meetings and international conferences. The CSG’s mission to advance public health through research, education, and collaboration — is the framework within which my research operates.

The Secretary role is fundamentally one of governance integrity. The Bylaws specify that the Secretary verifies quorum, oversees the recording and official filing of minutes, distributes records for review, and serves as custodian of the organization’s archives. These responsibilities require precision, organization, and procedural consistency. Throughout my career, I have demonstrated these competencies in both scientific and leadership contexts.

As President of the Immunology Graduate Student Association from 2018–2023, I oversaw meeting coordination, documentation, and policy implementation within a structured academic organization. I have also served extensively as a peer reviewer for meeting abstracts and travel and research grants, a role that demands careful documentation, confidentiality, and adherence to formal evaluation criteria. These experiences have trained me to operate within governance frameworks where accuracy and accountability are essential.

My research portfolio further reflects disciplined data stewardship. I have led and contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications focused on Coccidioides biology and volatilomics and have released publicly available datasets related to Valley fever research. Maintaining reproducible datasets and analytical code, including the development of the MetabImpute R package, requires structured documentation practices analogous to the Secretary's archival responsibilities. I approach recordkeeping as foundational infrastructure for transparency and long-term impact.

Additionally, my leadership development through the ASM Young Ambassador program and the ASM Future Leaders Mentorship Fellowship has strengthened my ability to serve as a liaison between membership and leadership. The Secretary’s role in maintaining clear communication and preserving institutional knowledge is essential to sustaining CSG’s strategic continuity. Having trained and mentored graduate students and served as a committee organizer and session chair, I understand how governance clarity supports scientific collaboration.

CSG occupies a unique space at the intersection of research, clinical practice, and public health. As someone actively engaged in translational research to improve diagnostics for endemic fungal diseases, I am committed to ensuring that the organization’s governance processes are as rigorous as the science it promotes. I would bring diligence, procedural discipline, and long-term commitment to the Secretary role, supporting the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities while strengthening the structural foundation that enables CSG to advance its mission.

CV: Emily Higgins Keppler

Candidate 1 of 2 for Director:

Tom Chiller, MD, M.P.H.T.M.

I have been involved in Cocci work since my fellowship with David Stevens, and have been involved with CSG since 1998. Through my career at CDC, I have tried to build more support for CSG within the public health community, and I think we have been successful, engaging more with dedicated sessions at the meeting and greater involvement from PH colleagues. Now that I am in the private sector, I can get more formally involved on the board and would like to continue enhancing CSG's activities and reach.

CV: Tom Chiller

Candidate 2 of 2 for Director:

Geetha Sivasubramanian, MD, FIDSA

For those of us working in endemic regions, coccidioidomycosis is part of everyday clinical care. Yet much of this work happens in parallel, with limited opportunities to share experiences across regions facing the same challenges. This is where the Coccidioidomycosis Study Group (CSG) matters, connecting clinical, research, and public health perspectives that rarely meet in one place. It is one of the few forums where these realities are openly discussed and learned from across disciplines. I have
seen firsthand how this space supports those of us working in endemic regions. By serving on the Board, I hope to help sustain and strengthen this exchange.

Caring for patients with severe and chronic manifestations of disease has reshaped how I think about progress in coccidioidomycosis. Many of the hardest challenges are not diagnostic or therapeutic alone. Patients face language barriers, medication toxicity, transportation limitations, and fragmented systems that make long-term follow-up difficult. I have seen how easily patients are lost to care and how much
their outcomes depend on factors beyond antifungal selection. These experiences have led me to value work that connects scientific advances with implementation, continuity of care, and access.

I would bring to the Board the perspective of a clinician practicing in a high-burden, resource-limited region, where social determinants of health and care infrastructure directly shape outcomes. My experience spans safety-net systems, community clinics, and sustained partnerships with public health agencies and community organizations to improve awareness, testing, and linkage to care. This work requires coordinating across clinical, laboratory, public health, and community stakeholders, and has
shaped my collaborative approach to leadership and problem-solving.

If selected, I would actively participate in Board discussions and committee work, focusing on making our work more usable for frontline clinicians and public health partners. I am especially interested in efforts that support practical guidance and implementation-focused research around long-term management, adherence, medication toxicity, and care coordination.

I also view Board service as an opportunity to support the next generation of clinicians and investigators in this field. In my work with medical students, residents, fellows, and pipeline programs in the Central Valley, I see how often trainees encounter coccidioidomycosis in a single rotation without clear pathways for sustained engagement. Without mentorship and connection to a broader community, that early interest can fade. Through mentorship, collaboration, and structured opportunities, the CSG can help more physicians develop the skills and confidence to care for patients with coccidioidomycosis and remain engaged in this work over time.

As endemic areas for coccidioidomycosis continue to expand and more clinicians encounter this complex disease, the role of the CSG as a unifying platform for shared learning and guidance becomes even more vital. I would welcome the opportunity to contribute to this work and help strengthen the community committed to improving care and outcomes for patients with coccidioidomycosis.

CV: Geetha Sivasubramanian