Senior Investigator, Molecular Pathogenesis Section
Education:
Ph.D., Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
Biography
Dr. de Wit received her Ph.D. in virology from Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her research there focused on the replication, pathogenesis, and transmission of influenza A virus. Dr. de Wit then moved to the Laboratory of Virology of NIAID in Hamilton, Montana, to work in the biosafety level 4 laboratory there. Here, she focused on the pathogenesis of and countermeasures against Nipah virus, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and the 1918 H1N1 influenza A virus (Spanish flu). In 2014-2015, Dr. de Wit spent 4 months in a field lab in Monrovia, Liberia, in charge of patient diagnostics for several Ebola Treatment Units in the area to help contain the devastating Ebola epidemic in Liberia. In 2019, Dr. de Wit became the Chief of the Molecular Pathogenesis Section. When SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019, Dr. de Wit focused her research on SARS-CoV-2, developing animal models and using those for testing of medical countermeasures and gaining a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. Amongst other accomplishments, the data generated in Dr. de Wit’s lab contributed to the licensing of remdesivir as an antiviral treatment for COVID-19 patients.