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Anita K. McElroy, MD, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and member of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. McElroy is a practicing pediatric infectious disease physician. The focus of Dr. McElroy’s research is on immunity and pathogenesis of emerging viral infections. She is interested in understanding how host immunity can be both useful and detrimental to the host following viral infection.

Dr. 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 is an elected member of the Society for Pediatric Research and has served on several Pediatric Infectious Disease Society committees. She has also served ad hoc on Vir B, VPI and as a P01 NIH study section reviewer. She is an Associate Editor of PLOS NTD. Dr. McElroy 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.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships 

  • American Society for Microbiology, 2000-present​
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, 2007-present  
  • Pediatric Infectious Disease Society, 2016-present 
  • Infectious Disease Society of America, 2016-present 
  • American Society of Virology, 2017-present 

Education & Training

  • BS, University of Maryland, 1996
  • PhD, University of California, 2000
  • MD, George Washington University, 2007
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 2005
  • Residency in Pediatrics, Emory University, 2010
  • Fellowship in Pediatrics, Emory University, 2013

Selected Publications

Cook N, Xu L, Hegazy S, Wheeler BJ, Anderson AR, Critelli N, Yost M, McElroy AK, Shurin MR, Wheeler SE. Multiplex assessment of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies improves assay sensitivity and correlation with neutralizing antibodies. Clin Biochem. 2021. Epub 2021/08/29. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2021.08.006. PubMed PMID: 34453893; PMCID: PMC8387133.

Ganaie SS, Schwarz MM, McMillen CM, Price DA, Feng AX, Albe JR, Wang W, Miersch S, Orvedahl A, Cole AR, Sentmanat MF, Mishra N, Boyles DA, Koenig ZT, Kujawa MR, Demers MA, Hoehl RM, Moyle AB, Wagner ND, Stubbs SH, Cardarelli L, Teyra J, McElroy A, Gross ML, Whelan SPJ, Doench J, Cui X, Brett TJ, Sidhu SS, Virgin HW, Egawa T, Leung DW, Amarasinghe GK, Hartman AL. Lrp1 is a host entry factor for Rift Valley fever virus. Cell. 2021 Sep 30;184(20):5163-5178.e24. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.09.001. Epub 2021 Sep 23. PubMed PMID: 34559985; PMCID: PMC8786218.

Freeman KG, Wetzel KS, Zhang Y, Zack KM, Jacobs-Sera D, Walters SM, Barbeau DJ, McElroy AK, Williams JV, Hatfull GF. A Mycobacteriophage-Based Vaccine Platform: SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Expression and Display. Microorganisms. 2021 Nov 23;9(12). doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9122414. PubMed PMID: 34946016; PMCID: PMC8704799

Zhai B, Clarke K, Bauer DL, Moehling Geffel KK, Kupul S, Schratz LJ, Nowalk MP, McElroy AK, McLachlan JB, Zimmerman RK, Alcorn JF, SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response Is Associated with Age and Body Mass Index in Convalescent Outpatients. J Immunol. 2022 Apr 1;208(7):1711-1718. PMID: 35321882

Barbeau DJ, Martin JM, Carney E, Dougherty E, Doyle JD, Dermody TS, Hoberman A, Williams JV, Michaels MG, Alcorn JF, Paul Duprex W, McElroy AK. Comparative analysis of human immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, or Ad26.COV2.S. NPJ Vaccines. 2022 Jul 6;7(1):77. PMID: 35794181

Cartwright HN, Barbeau DJ, Doyle JD, Klein E, Heise MT, Ferris MT, and McElroy AK. Genetic Diversity of Collaborative Cross Mice Enables Identification of Novel Rift Valley Fever Virus Encephalitis Model. PLoS Pathogens. 2022 Jul 14;18(7):e1010649. PMID: 35834486

Schwarz MM, Connors KA, Davoli KA, McMillen CM, Albe JR, Hoehl RM, Demers MJ, Ganaie SS, Price DA, Leung DW, Amarasinghe GK, McElroy AK, Reed DS, Hartman AL. Rift Valley Fever Virus Infects the Posterior Segment of the Eye and Induces Inflammation in a Rat Model of Ocular Disease. J Virol. 2022 Oct 26;96(20):e0111222. PMID: 36194021    

Doyle JD, Barbeau DJ, Cartwright HN, and McElroy AK. Immune correlates of protection following Rift Valley fever virus vaccination. NPJ Vaccines. 2022 Oct 28;7(1):129. PMID: 36307416

Rick AM, Lentscher A, Xu L, Wilkins MS, Nasser A, Tuttle DJ, Megli C, Marques ETA, McElroy AK, Williams JV, Martin JM. Impact of maternal SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccination on blood and breastmilk antibodies. PLoS One. 2023 Jun 13;18(6):e0287103.

Xu L, Paine AC, Barbeau DJ, Alencastro F, Duncan AW, McElroy AK. Limiting viral replication in hepatocytes alters Rift Valley fever virus disease manifestations. J Virol. 2023 Sep 28;97(9):e0085323

CEPIFull Publication List via NIH PubMed

Research Grants

CEPI, Clinical Development of Rift Valley fever vaccines in endemic regions, 2023-2027. 

UC7 AI180311, Pitt RBL, 2023-2028. 

Emory University-CEIRR, Defining the antigenic diversity within hemagglutinin serotypes with pandemic potential, 2023-2025. 

1013362.01/2 Burroughs Wellcome, Mouse adaptive responses to RVFV vaccination, 2012-2022. 

AI150792 NIH R01,  Live-attenuated rift valley fever vaccines: comparative mechanisms of trans-placental transmission and vaccine efficacy for developing fetuses, 2020-2025. 

AI171200 NIH R01, Innate immune recognition and response to RVFV, 2022-2027. 

CEPI, SARS-CoV-2 vaccine evaluation, 2022-2024.