Maury named to Mark Stinski Chair in Virology

Maury, who joined the Carver College of Medicine faculty in 1999, is an internationally recognized leader in virology research, with expertise in the molecular and cellular interaction of enveloped viruses with the host. Currently, her research focuses on virus entry and innate host immune responses to viral infection.

Using the skin, liver, spleen, lung, and peritoneal cavity as model tissues, her research team investigates how the cellular environment alters these interactions. Through studies on variety of viruses—including coronaviruses, such as the COVID-19 pathogen SARS-CoV-2, and filoviruses, such as Ebola virus—the Maury lab has significantly enhanced understanding of the cellular attachment factor, receptors, internalization pathways, and fusion events used by viruses to enter cells, providing an avenue for the development of new antiviral therapies.

Maury also is a highly regarded teacher in virology and immunology. She has mentored numerous postdoctoral fellows as well as students at the undergraduate, graduate, medical school, and dental school levels. Maury has received the Collegiate Teaching Award and the John P. Long Teaching Award in the Basic Sciences from the Carver College of Medicine. She also is the co-director of a long-standing T32 training grant in molecular virology, viral pathogenesis, and viral vectors from the National Institutes of Health.

The endowed Mark Stinski Chair, initially established in 2010, honors a primary faculty member who has significantly contributed to the field of microbiology and immunology. In 2015, the chair was named after Stinski, who developed and commercialized the cytomegalovirus promoter, a tool to promote the expression of proteins that are important in the production of vaccines and therapeutic drugs.

As the Stinski Chair, Maury succeeds her Department of Microbiology and Immunology colleague Stanley Perlman, MD, PhD, who was named a University of Iowa Distinguished Chair in May 2021.