PIDS Foundation News: Emma Mohr (Award Recipient)

Emma Mohr is an assistant professor in the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She currently heads an independent research program in a preclinical model of congenital Zika virus infection that she developed, in part, due to research during her fellowship and instructor year supported through the PIDS Foundation’s Dr. Stanley and Mrs. Susan Stanley A. Plotkin Sanofi Pasteur Fellowship Award.

Initially, Dr. Mohr applied to conduct research into Zika virus infection in fetal tissue. When her original approach did not find any virus in the tissue, the two-year award enabled her to pivot to the congenital Zika infection that her lab continues to investigate. The first five test subjects from the fellowship award, in fact, became the basis of her first senior grant.

The fellowship award proved beneficial to Dr. Mohr’s career in several ways. Laying out her goals in the application resulted in her putting her career development plan to paper. It also helped her establish crucial grant writing skills through invaluable feedback into what makes a successful grant application, which have been useful in running her research lab.

In her own words, Dr. Mohr called the Dr. Stanley and Mrs. Susan Stanley A. Plotkin Sanofi Pasteur Fellowship Award the first stop in finding her way in translational research. It allowed her to see what training was needed to be the leader of a lab and develop the requisite skills to do it.

Dr. Mohr completed her MD and PhD at the University of Iowa, followed by residency in pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, and fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has a strong interest in supporting the career development of trainees and co-leads the PIDS Career Development Session at the St. Jude/PIDS Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Conference. She is also serves on the Research Affairs Committee and Membership Taskforce.