Megan Culler Freeman, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Megan Culler Freeman, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Freeman received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kentucky and her Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees through the Vanderbilt University Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed Pediatrics Residency and Infectious Diseases Fellowship through the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Pediatrician Scientist Development Program (PedSDP) where she received awards for clinical teaching during both residency and fellowship. Freeman is a virologist interested in viral tissue models and viral pathogenesis. Her lab is focused on investigations of RNA viruses with neurotropism, with current focus on enterovirus D68, a cause of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a polio-like illness in children. She has published research articles on the basic science and cell biology of coronaviruses and enteroviruses, as well as projects in collaboration with the UPMC clinical labs, textbook chapters, and reviews. She recently received the Children's Trust Young Investigator Award.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

American Society for Virology, 2010-Present
Infectious Disease Society of America, 2015-Present
American Medical Association, 2016-Present
Society for Pediatric Research, Junior Member, 2019-Present
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Member, 2018-Present

Education & Training

BS, Agricultural Biotechnology, magna cum laude, University of Kentucky, 2008
PhD, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University, 2014
MD, Vanderbilt University, 2016
Residency in Pediatrics, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2016-2018
Fellowship in Pediatrics Infectious Disease, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2018-2022

Selected Publications

Aguglia GA, Coyne CB, Dermody TS, Williams JV, and Freeman MC. “Contemporary Enterovirus-D68 Isolates Infect Human Spinal Cord Organoids.” mBio. 2023 Aug 3;e0105823. http://doi: 10.1128/mbio.01058-23.

Freeman MC, Freeman TJ, Iagnemma J, Rasmussen J, Heidenreich K, Wells A, Hoberman A, and Mitchell SL. “Performance of the Sofia SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Pediatric Patients.” Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 11, no. 9 (September 29, 2022): 417–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpids/piac035.

Mitchell SL, Orris S, Freeman T, Freeman MC, Adams M, Axe M, Gribschaw J, Suyama J, Hoberman A, Wells, A. Performance of SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Testing in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Adults: A Single Center Evaluation. 2021. BMC Infectious Diseases. Under review.

Freeman MC, Sinder A, Gray W, Keljo D, and Kim SC. Pediatric Patients Newly Diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Lack Sufficient Antibody Titers to Vaccine Preventable Illnesses. 2021. Clinical Biochemistry. Under review.

Freeman MC, Wells AI, Ciomperlik-Patton J, Myerburg MM, Yang L, Konopka-Anstadt J, and Coyne CB. Respiratory and intestinal epithelial cells exhibit differential susceptibility and innate immune responses to contemporary EV-D68 isolates. 2021. eLife. Jul 1;10:366687. doi: 10.7554/eLife.66687. PMID: 34196272

Rapsinski GR*, Freeman MC*, Bell S, Hadir G, Wheeler SE. Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence During Mitigation Procedures in Southwestern Pennsylvania. 2021. Journal of Clinical Virology Plus. Accepted.

Geisler D, Freeman MC, Rapsinski GJ, Wheeler SE. 2021. Unexpected false positive rates in pediatric SARS-CoV-2 serology using the Euroimmun Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay. American Journal of Clinical Pathology. 155 (6):773-775. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/aqab033. PMID: 33899091.

Freeman MC, Giaetto K, DiCicco LA, Rauenswinter S, Squire J, Aldewereld Z, Rapsinski G, Iagnemma J, Campfield B, Wolfson D, Kazmerski T, Forno E. 2020. A Comprehensive clinical Description of Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Western Pennsylvania. medRxIV. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.14.20248192

Freeman MC*^, Rapsinski GR*, Zilla M, and Wheeler SE. 2020. Immunocompromised Seroprevalence and Course of Illness of SARS-CoV-2 in One Pediatric Quaternary Care Center. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpids/piaa123

Freeman MC, Haddadin, Z, Lawrence, L, Piya, B, Krishnaswami, S, Faouri, S, Shehabi, A, Williams, JV, Khuri-Bulos, N, and Halasa N. 2020. Utility of RSV Rapid Diagnostic Assays in Hospitalized Children in Amman, Jordan. Journal of Medical Virology. doi: 10.1002/jmv.26546

Wang L, Shi W, Joyce MG, Modjarrad K, Zhang Y, Leung K, Lees CR, Zhou T, Yassine HM, Kanekiyo M, Yang Z, Chen X, Becker M, Freeman MC, Vogel L, Johnson J, Olinger G, Todd JP, Bagci U, Solomaon J, Mollura DJ, Hensley L, Jahrling P, Denison MR, Rao SS, Subbarao K, Kwong PD, Mascola JR, Kong W, Graham, BS. 2015. Evaluation of candidate vaccine approaches for MERS-CoV. Nature Communications. 6:7712. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8712.

Freeman MC, Peek CT, Becker MM, Smith EC, Denison MR. 2014. Coronaviruses induce entry-independent, continuous macropinocytosis. mBio. 5(4):e01340-14

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