Dr. Motroni – 2022 Rising Star Alumna Award recipient UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Motroni is honored with the Rising Star Alumna Award for recognition of Pajaroellobacter abortibovis, the long-sought-after causative agent of bovine foothill abortion (a tick-borne disease that causes pregnancy loss affecting cattle in California, Nevada and Oregon – a vaccine is now available), and for national leadership in the diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases of livestock.

Dr. Motroni is National Program Leader for Animal Health for the US Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS).

Dr. Motroni was selected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Executive Branch Fellow in the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) working in the Foreign Animal Disease Vaccines and Diagnostics Program and the International FMD Vaccine Trial.

Subsequently, she was appointed as a program manager in the DHS Agricultural Defense Branch responsible for foreign animal disease programs and policies.

Since 2017, she has been the USDA–ARS National Program Leader for Animal Health with responsibility for the National Animal Health Research Program at ARS, oversight as ARS Science Team Lead of the research transition plan for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center to the National Bio and Agrodefense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan (KS), and the NBAF ARS Workforce Development Plan.

Congratulations Dr. Motroni!