Kizzmekia S. Corbett-Helaire
A leading immunologist and vaccinologist, Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire is Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Freeman Hrabowski Scholar. In 2008, she received a BS 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 PhD in Microbiology and Immunology in 2014 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill holding multiple honors, including a director’s scholarship.
She then had a seven-year tenure at the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. While at the NIH, Corbett-Helaire was scientific lead of a team that developed a vaccine to combat COVID-19—a challenge that would put her in the national spotlight and help shape the trajectory of the pandemic. Alongside Moderna, her team developed mRNA-1273, the first COVID-19 vaccine in the world to enter clinical trial. The highly effective vaccine was authorized for emergency use in less than one year. In addition to Moderna’s vaccine, Corbett-Helaire’s patented technology is used in many vaccines currently used around the world, including Pfizer’s, Novavax’s, and Johnson & Johnson’s. For her outstanding contributions to the fight against COVID-19, Corbett-Helaire was named one of Time’s 100 Heroes of the Year in 2021. She has also received several prestigious awards including the Fulbright Prize, Sabin Vaccine Institute Rising Star Award, and Benjamin Franklin Next Gen Award.
Corbett-Helaire has over 15 years of experience studying dengue virus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, and coronaviruses. In all, she boasts a patent portfolio which also includes universal coronavirus and influenza vaccines and novel therapeutic antibodies. Currently, her laboratory studies host immune responses to coronaviruses and other emerging and re-emerging viruses to propel novel vaccine and antibody therapy development. Combining her research goals with her knack for mentorship, Corbett-Helaire invests much of her time in underserved communities as an advocator of STEM education and vaccine awareness.