Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett is the scientific lead for the Coronavirus Vaccine Team at the National Institutes of Health that developed the COVID-19 vaccine being deployed by industry partner, Moderna. Dr. Corbett has worked at the NIH since receiving her PhD in 2014 and currently serves as the scientific lead for the Coronavirus Vaccines & Immunopathogenesis Team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccine Research Center (VRC).

Dr. Corbett received a B.S. in Biological Sciences, with a secondary major in Sociology, in 2008 from the University of Maryland – Baltimore County, where she was a Meyerhoff Scholar and an NIH undergraduate scholar. She then enrolled at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology in 2014. Appointed to the VRC in 2014, her work has focused on developing novel coronavirus vaccines, including mRNA-1273, the most-used vaccine against the virus responsible for COVID-19.

Alongside mRNA-1273, Dr. Corbett’s team boasts a portfolio that also includes universal coronavirus vaccine concepts and novel therapeutic antibodies. Additionally, Dr. Corbett spent several years working on a universal influenza vaccine, which is slated for Phase 1 clinical trial. She has 15 years of expertise studying dengue virus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus and coronaviruses.

Along with her research activities, Dr. Corbett is an active member of the NIH Fellows Committee and avid advocator of STEM education and vaccine awareness in the community. [inset image with description small font: “Dr. Corbett briefing Dr. Francis Collins, Head of NIH, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Head of the National Institute of Infectious Disease, during development of the COVID-19 vaccine.