Dr. Rossi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Originally hailing from New York, she attended Cornell University and graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor’s of Science. Her dissertation was completed in 2008 with a focus on the role of point mutations on persistent West Nile virus infection. Following a brief 2-year postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh where she helped move forward potential West Nile virus vaccines, she returned to UTMB to continue her postdoctoral education. At UTMB, she continued to not only work on alphaviral and flaviviral vaccines but developed the first useful animal model for Zika virus and refined small animal models for chikungunya disease.

Her current research centers around understanding how arboviruses, which typically cause acute infection, can persist in the host. Understanding these infections can enter and be maintained in immune-privileged sites like the testes and eye is critical to controlling infection and understanding how to combat long-term sequalae.

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Email: slrossi@utmb.edu