Mary Allen Staat, MD, MPH
- Director, International Adoption Center
- Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
- mary.staat@cchmc.org
- Board Certified
About
Biography
I specialize in infectious diseases, international adoption and travel medicine. As a physician, I have a desire to help prevent, treat and cure infections in children. Dr. Arthur Frank, a preventive medicine specialist, inspired me to consider public health as a career. Drs. Larry Pickering and Ralph Feigin encouraged me to provide clinical care and pursue research in pediatrics.
My research involves the epidemiology of contagions in children. For instance, I am very interested in learning when children are infected with certain pathogens, how the infection impacts them, and how their immune system responds to it. To uncover answers to our questions, we perform surveillance and cohort studies in mothers and babies.
Our research goals are to better understand and identify the immune response to the flu in babies who were exposed to influenza for the first time either from a natural infection or from the flu vaccine. By understanding this response, we hope to develop a universal influenza vaccine.
I thought we only had part of the story with certain pathogens and that we only knew the typical presentation or researched the children with the most relentless symptoms. I was curious to answer these questions: Why do some children get an infection and have mild symptoms, while others may die from that same infection? Why do some children have a good response to a vaccine and others do not? I wanted to get the whole story via my research studies.
My colleagues and I are thankful for families who participate in our studies and help us learn how to prevent infections in the future. We are truly passionate about the research we are pursuing.
Our team has been awarded a large Cooperative Agreement grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to assess influenza in a maternal infant cohort in Cincinnati and Mexico City. Also, I was named Kulkarni Endowed Chair of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
My research has been published in various respected journals, including American Journal of Infection Control, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Pediatrics International, and Pediatric Blood and Cancer.
MD: University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., 1986.
MPH: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., 1991.
Residency: Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 1986-1989; Preventive Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., 1990-1994.
Fellowship: Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 1989-1990; Epidemiology, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, Md., 1990-1993.
Certification: Pediatrics, 1989; Preventive Medicine, 1996; Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 1999.
Interests
Helicobacter pylori; rotavirus epidemiology; travel medicine; infectious diseases of international adoptees
Services and Specialties
Infectious Diseases, International Adoption
Interests
Epidemiology of enteric infections; surveillance of infectious diseases
Research Areas
Infectious Diseases
Locations (2)
Insurance Information
Cincinnati Children's strives to accept a wide variety of health plans. Please contact your health insurance carrier to verify coverage for your specific benefit plan.
Publications
Maternal Vaccine Effectiveness Against Influenza-Associated Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits in Infants. JAMA Pediatrics. 2024; 178:176-184.
SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology and COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Effectiveness Among Infants and Children Aged 6 Months-4 Years - New Vaccine Surveillance Network, United States, July 2022-September 2023. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2023; 72:1300-1306.
Immunogenicity of adjuvanted versus high-dose inactivated influenza vaccines in older adults: a randomized clinical trial. Immunity and Ageing. 2023; 20:30.
1742. Predictors of Antiviral Receipt for Influenza in Hospitalized U.S. Children, New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN), 2016–2020. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.1573.
650. Antibiotic Use among Children Seeking Medical Care with Acute Gastroenteritis within the New Vaccine Surveillance Network, United States, 2011-2021. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.713.
1752. Seasonal Human Coronavirus in Pediatric Patients enrolled by the New Vaccine Surveillance Network, 2016-2020. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.1583.
905. Epidemiology of Enterovirus D68 in the US: New Vaccine Surveillance Network, 2017–2022. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.950.
1754. Parainfluenza Virus Co-detection With Respiratory Syncytial Virus or Influenza is Associated with Higher Odds of Hospitalization in Children < 2 Years Old, New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN), 2016–2020. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.1585.
2622. Recent or concurrent rhino/enterovirus infection with respiratory syncytial virus associated with decreased symptoms and medical care use in healthy children, PREVAIL, 2017–2020. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.2235.
1755. Hospitalizations for Respiratory Viruses among Children 5–17 Years of Age in the Pre-COVID-19 Pandemic Era, the New Vaccine Surveillance Network, 2016–2020. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.1586.
From the Blog
Why COVID-19 Tends to be Less Severe in Young Children
Mary Allen Staat, MD, MPH10/13/2023
Vaccine ‘Highly Effective’ in Preventing Adolescent COVID-19 Hospitalization
Mary Allen Staat, MD, MPH10/21/2021
$30M Grant Fuels Hunt for Universal Flu Vaccine
Mary Allen Staat, MD, MPH7/3/2019
The PREVAIL Cincinnati Birth Cohort: Breastfeeding and Sleep Analysis
Mary Allen Staat, MD, MPH7/3/2019
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