Wira received his Bachelor of Surgery in 1962 in Animal Husbandry from Delaware Valley College (now Delaware Valley University), Doylestown, Pennsylvania and his Master of Surgery in Physiology from Michigan State University in 1966. Wira came to Dartmouth College in 1966, where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in 1970.
From 1970 to 1972 he did his postdoctoral training at the University of Paris, France, studying molecular mechanism of estrogen action in the uterus. He returned to Dartmouth as an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and was promoted to professor in 1985. Wira is a scientist with specific expertise in endocrinology and mucosal immunology as it relates to the immune system at mucosal surfaces of the female reproductive tract.
His research focuses on how female sex hormones influence innate and adaptive immunity in the female reproductive tract of animal models and humans.
He has been principal investigator of National Institutes of Health-funded research grant for the past 35 years, having published approximately 240 research papers in this area. Wira"s laboratory includes graduate students and research associates from the United States, China, India, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Australia.
He was the president of ASRI (2008–2010) and is currently the president of ISIR (2015–2017). Wira is an advisor to National Institutes of Health, including National Institutes of Health Women, Girls, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Group, National Institutes of Health Planning Group for Human Immunodeficiency Virus-related research.
Women and Girls Planning Group.
And the OAR Microbicides Planning Group. He has worked with National Institutes of Health to organize international meetings sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus transmission and mucosal immunity in the male and female reproductive tract in Hanover, New Hampshire. Wira has been an advisor to National Institutes of Health for numerous conferences, including National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development: Conference on Maternal/Fetal placental Interactions in Washington, District of Columbia. National Institutes of Health Microbicide Meeting in Atlanta, Go.
Syphilis Conference of National Institutes of Health in Memphis Tennessee. The Biology of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission Think Tank, National Institutes of Health in Washington, District of Columbia. National Institutes of Health Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Women, Girls and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Conference in Washington, District of Columbia.
National Institutes of Health Fertility Regulation and Systemic Hormones in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-infected and at-risk Women in Washington, District of Columbia. National Institutes of Health Planning Group for Human Immunodeficiency Virus-related research. Woman and Girls Planning Group.
And the National Institutes of Health Plan for Human Immunodeficiency Virus-related research.
OAR: Microbicides Planning Group.
Wira is a member of the Society for Mucosal Immunology, American Society for Reproductive Immunology (ASRI), American Society for Microbiology, and the International Society for Immunology of Reproduction (ISIR).
