Viral immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph,D. of Harvard University, who delivers the 2022 Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture at The City College of New York on Dec. 5.
Viral immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph,D. of Harvard University delivers the 2022 Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture on "Coronavirus Vaccine Development: Where Do We Go From Here?" at The City College of New York on Monday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
The Lecture, which will be followed by a question and answer session, is free and open to the public. Click here for more information and to reserve a spot.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines were designed and developed rapidly. Today, three years since the onset of the pandemic, researchers have been met with many challenges. Vaccine immunity wanes quickly calling for boosters. The ongoing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 causes for variants that evade vaccine immunity. And, the pandemic is most certainly not over. This talk will revisit the rapid development COVID-19 vaccines and science driving forward vaccines of the future.
Corbett is Assistant Professor of Immunology & Infectious Disease at the Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health School, Shutzer Assistant Professor at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, and Associate Member of the Phillip T. and Susan M. Ragon Institute.
Her laboratory studies host immune responses to coronaviruses and other emerging and re-emerging viruses to propel novel vaccine and antibody therapy development. In 2008, she received a B.S. in biological sciences, with a secondary major in sociology, from the University of Maryland – Baltimore County, where she was a Meyerhoff Scholar and NIH undergraduate scholar. She then obtained her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology in 2014 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill holding multiple honors, including a director’s scholarship.
Prior to Harvard, she was a research fellow and scientific lead at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Vaccine Research Center. A leading COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273, was co-designed by Corbett’s NIH team from viral sequence and rapidly deployed to industry partner, Moderna, Inc., for Phase 1 clinical trial, which unprecedentedly began only 66 days from viral sequence release. mRNA-1273 is a now used around the world to prevent COVID-19 disease. Alongside mRNA-1273, Corbett boasts a patent portfolio which also includes universal coronavirus and influenza vaccine concepts and novel therapeutic antibodies.
Corbett has over 15 years of experience studying dengue virus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, and coronaviruses, garnering several prestigious awards and recognitions, such as being named a Time Magazine “Hero of the Year” in 2021. Combining her research goals with her knack for mentorship, Corbett invests much of her time in underserved communities as an advocator of STEM education and vaccine awareness.
Previous Rudin Scholars have included: former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite; former Congresswoman Patricia S. Schroeder; author Walter Mosley, ’91MA; former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw; filmmaker Ric Burns; Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan.
About the City College of New York
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Syd Steinhardt
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