Emma Mohr, MD, PhD, associate professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, received a $2,234,901 award from the Gates Foundation following an invited proposal. Mohr and her team will build the first neonatal rhesus macaque model of Klebsiella pneumoniae, the pathogen responsible for a large share of newborn sepsis deaths in low- and middle-income countries. The K. pneumoniae sepsis model is designed to test whether vaccinating mothers during pregnancy protects their infants, giving the field a way to compare candidate maternal vaccines before they reach clinical trials. Project collaborators include Claire O’Leary, PhD, assistant professor, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology; Jens Eickhoff, PhD, distinguished scientist, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics; David Rosen, MD, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis; and the veterinary team at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. Funding began on August 1, 2026, and will continue through January 31, 2029.