Biography
Dr. Anne Moscona is Professor of Pediatrics and of Microbiology and Immunology and Vice Chair for Research of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical Center. She received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University in 1978, her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1982 and her residency and fellowship training at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She joined Weill Cornell following 23 years at Mount Sinai where she was a Professor of Pediatrics, served as Division Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Vice Chair of Pediatrics for Research, Director of the Pathogenesis and Mechanisms of Host Defense (Microbiology and Immunology) course in the medical school and Assistant Director of the MD-PhD program in the Graduate School of Biological Sciences.
Dr. Moscona is active in training faculty, fellows, medical students and graduate students in pediatric infectious diseases and in virology research. She serves on several national grant review committees, including those at the National Institutes of Health. Her pediatric infectious diseases and basic virology studies bridge clinical pediatrics and basic pathogenesis research. Her investigation of human parainfluenza virus type 3, an important agent of significant lower respiratory tract disease in children, is internationally recognized, and she has received honors that include election to membership in The Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) and the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI).
Dr. Moscona's laboratory's research centers on molecular pathogenesis of human paramyxoviruses: parainfluenza virus type 3, and recently also the emerging pathogen Hendra virus. Parainfluenza virus is an important cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children, including croup and bronchiolitis, and there are currently no vaccines or antiviral agents for these diseases. Hendra virus is a highly fatal paramyxovirus which is a potential agent of bioterrorism. We are interested in how these viruses enter cells by fusing with the cells' envelope, and in how we might interfere with this viral entry process. Both the parainfluenza and Hendra projects are funded by investigator-initiated NIH-grants.
