Anne Moscona is an American virologist and pediatrician. Her research has identified cell entry mechanisms for enveloped respiratory viruses, with applications to

parainfluenza virus Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are the viruses that cause human parainfluenza. HPIVs are a paraphyletic group of four distinct single-stranded RNA viruses belonging to the ''Paramyxoviridae'' family. These viruses are closely associated with ...

Nipah virus Nipah virus (''Henipavirus nipahense'') is a bat-borne, Zoonosis, zoonotic virus that causes Nipah virus infection in humans and other animals, a disease with a very high mortality rate (40-75%). Numerous disease outbreaks caused by Nipah virus ...

measles virus The measles virus (MV), with scientific name ''Morbillivirus hominis'', is a single-stranded, negative-sense, enveloped, non-segmented RNA virus of the genus ''Morbillivirus'' within the family ''Paramyxoviridae''. It is the cause of measles. H ...

, and other viruses, and has applied this knowledge to the development of antiviral strategies to prevent infection by viruses including

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

. Since 2016, she has served as the Sherie L. Morrison Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics at

Columbia University Medical Center Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is the academic medical center of Columbia University and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The center's academic wing consists of Columbia's colleges and schools of Physicia ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she also directs the Center for Host Pathogen Interaction. In 2022, Moscona was elected as president of the

American Society for Virology The American Society for Virology (ASV) is an American scientific society serving the community of researchers in virology. The organization was founded in 1981 and was the first scientific society in the world dedicated exclusively to virology. Fo ...

, the nation's leading virology research organization.

Early life and education

Moscona was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where her parents, Aron Moscona and Malka Moscona, were Israeli-American developmental biologists at the University of Chicago. Moscona received her BA in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1978, and MD from

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...

in 1982.

Career

Moscona completed her clinical and research training at

Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is the largest hospital network in New York City. It was formed in September 2013 by merging the operations of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center. The Health System is structured around eight ...

in New York City. She was promoted to tenured professor in 2001 and served as chief of pediatric infectious diseases and vice chair for research until 2005. In 2005, she became professor of Pediatrics and of Microbiology and Immunology, vice chair for research of Pediatrics, and Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, before moving to Columbia in 2015 as a tri-departmental professor and center director. Moscona's research focuses on understanding how viruses enter human cells and how to use this knowledge to design better tools to prevent viral infection. Her research program focuses on paramyxoviruses, a family of

negative-sense RNA In molecular biology and genetics, the sense of a nucleic acid molecule, particularly of a strand of DNA or RNA, refers to the nature of the roles of the strand and its complementarity (molecular biology), complement in specifying a sequence of am ...

viruses that cause severe illness in humans, and her group has developed new techniques to block viral infection through fusion inhibition, most recently developing fusion inhibitory peptides for

. She is frequently consulted as a medical expert during viral outbreaks, including epidemic and pandemic influenza. Her research has been featured in outlets including

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, the

New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Founded in 1812, the journal is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals. Its 2023 impact factor was ...

, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

and The Hill.

COVID-19

On November 5, 2020, the

reported that Moscona's research group had collaboratively developed “A nasal spray that blocks the absorption of the SARS-CoV-2 virus...” and that it had “...completely protected ferrets it was tested on, according to a small study...” According to the article, the therapeutics are patent pending and awaiting market production.

Awards

* 1985: Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellowship for Biomedical Research. * 1992: Elected to the

Society for Pediatric Research A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. * 1992: Pediatric Infectious Disease Society Young Investigator Award. * 1992: Hirschl/Monique Weill-Caulier Career Scientist Award. * 2002: Elected to

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...

. * 2006: Burroughs Welcome Fund Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award Advisory Committee. * 2009: Elected to Fellowship in the

American Academy of Microbiology American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. * 2019: Elected Councilor for Medical Virology,

. * 2020: Harrington Discovery Institute Awardee (COVID program). * 2022: Elected President of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moscona, Anne Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American virologists Physicians from Chicago American pediatricians Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Harvard University alumni Scientists from Chicago Columbia University faculty American people of Israeli descent Weill Medical College of Cornell University faculty 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians American women pediatricians American women virologists