What Parents Need to Know About CMV

In this episode of Voices for Their Future, we sit down with Dr. Sallie Permar, a leading pediatric infectious disease expert, to discuss the urgent need for a CMV vaccine and the groundbreaking work being done to develop it. CMV is the most common infectious cause of birth defects, yet it remains largely unknown to many parents. Dr. Permar breaks down what CMV is, why a vaccine is critical, and how ongoing research is shaping its future.

Beyond CMV, we also explore the broader challenges facing public health and vaccine access, especially in light of shifting policies that threaten global progress. Dr. Permar shares her insights on what these changes mean for families and actionable steps parents can take to advocate for children's health in this moment.

About Dr. Sallie Permar

Dr. Sallie Permar is the Nancy C. Paduano Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and Pediatrician-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is also Professor of Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. She received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School, a Ph.D. in Microbiology/Immunology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital in Boston. After serving as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, she joined the Duke University School of Medicine faculty where she was named the Wilburt C Davison Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics. With more than 15 years of experience in her field, she is a physician scientist focused on prevention and treatment of neonatal viral infections and leads a laboratory investigating immune protection against vertically-transmitted viral pathogens, including HIV and cytomegalovirus (CMV).