Experts Advancing Global Health
Mars Stone, Ph.D.
Senior Director Core Laboratories, ROC Core Director
Mars Stone, Ph.D., is Senior Director of Core Laboratories and Director of the Research Operations Core at Vitalant Research Institute (VRI). Dr. Stone joined the Research Institute after completing graduate and post-doctoral work at the University of California, Davis, investigating rhesus macaque models of HIV vaccines and in vivo viral evolution. Current research interests revolve around emerging infectious pathogens and public health response, transfusion-transmitted viruses, blood screening and diagnostics assays and transfusion efficacy. The Stone lab leads a range of multicenter clinical and translational studies in these areas.
Dr. Stone’s research focuses on donor-based serosurveillance for pathogens of public-health concern (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, influenza, RSV), transfusion-transmitted infection risk, vaccine effectiveness and correlates of protection, and ultrasensitive virologic assays—including single-copy HIV RNA—for pathogenesis and cure-directed studies. She collaborates widely with internal VRI investigators, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, academic partners, and industry to generate actionable evidence that informs blood safety, infectious-disease surveillance, and preparedness. Dr Stone has published over 200 papers.
