Monica Malone McNeal, MS

I direct a Clinical Research Laboratory that supports numerous clinical trials by providing specialized specimen processing and specialized assays. The studies we support are vaccine or surveillance studies that mainly focus on enteric and respiratory pathogens.

Rotavirus vaccine development and research is a primary function of the lab, but we also study influenza and other pathogens in birth cohort studies and surveillance studies. We most recently have been involved with establishing testing for SARS-CoV2.

Our rotavirus work started out by developing a mouse model to answer basic questions on protection against rotavirus infection and disease. We used this model to look at immune responses after the administration of different vaccine strategies. Then, we used the information gained in this model to help with rotavirus vaccine development — which led to the establishment of a rotavirus vaccine that today is used around the world. I have continued the support of rotavirus vaccine development by working with several groups that are using new strategies to increase the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines in developing countries, where they are needed the most.

I’m honored to have received the Research Team Faculty Award from Cincinnati Children’s in 2018. I have been a researcher for more than 35 years and began working at Cincinnati Children’s in 1995. I am involved in studies with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the pharmaceutical industry and nonprofit organizations, as well as Cincinnati Children’s researchers that benefit from our services.