Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Anita McElroy, MD, PhD, for recently being awarded her second R01 from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious as part of the National Institutes of Health. McElroy is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in our Division of Infectious Diseases, and a participating member of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Vaccine Research. 
This newly funded project, titled, “Neuropathogenesis of Rift Valley fever virus” aims to continue her work in immunity and the pathogenesis of emerging viral infections. McElroy is especially interested in understanding how host immunity can be both useful and detrimental to the host following viral infection.
McElroy studies host-pathogen interactions utilizing several different in vitro and in vivo model systems to understand the molecular basis of normal and aberrant host immune responses. She served on the WHO DSMB for Ebola therapeutics as well as the WHO working group on clinical trial design for RVFV therapeutics and vaccines. She also recently joined a Pitt collaboration as part of an NIH initiative to facilitate rapid responses to emerging virus threats around the world.
McElroy received her MD from George Washington University, and completed her residency and fellowship in pediatrics at Emory University. She also trains graduate students as a faculty member in the Program for Microbiology and Immunology. She leads a small group in the Medical Microbiology class for medical students and teaches students, residents and fellows during inpatient service weeks.
Join us in congratulating her on this great success. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram for future updates on her ongoing research on Rift Valley fever virus.