Jennifer Moffat trained at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she received her doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology, and where she took on a postdoctoral fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Dr. Moffat is an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. She is an internationally recognized expert on varicella-zoster virus, and her research has focused on developing mouse models to study the pathogenesis and treatment of this virus. The current emphasis of her research group is the evaluation of antiviral compounds for VZV in a unique humanized SCID mouse model, which is supported by an NIH contract. She has received multiple NIH and New York State awards for her projects on the molecular basis of VZV disease, as well as contracts with pharmaceutical companies. She has served on several NIH review panels and is the Editor for DNA Viruses for the journal, Antiviral Research. Dr. Moffat served two terms as a board member of the International Society for Antiviral Research. She received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, which is the highest honor in the SUNY system.