Her Story: Kizzmekia Corbett

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a Black virologist, earned her place in the history books as the scientific lead in producing one of the first coronavirus vaccines.  Her monumental work is paving the way to end the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Corbett is an accomplished research fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccine Research Center (VRC). She leads the Coronavirus Vaccines & Immunopathogenesis Team.

While in high school, Corbett realized that she wanted to pursue a career in the sciences. While most teenagers were spending their summers enjoying the sunshine, she spent her summers working in research laboratories as part of a program called Project Seed and interning at Stony Brook University studying Yersinia pseudotuberculosis pathogenesis. This was just the beginning of an amazing career of scientific research and discovery.

Corbett has worked to rebuild trust with vaccine hesitant populations through outreach. After a study was released by the NAACP that only 14% of Black Americans believe a COVID-19 vaccine will be effective, she presented education about the COVID-19 vaccine development to Black Health Matters. 

Dr. Kissmekia Corbett is saving lives through science and education. She Made History!

Links for Learning:

Virologist

PRIOR TO COVID-19, DR. KIZZMEKIA S. CORBETT WAS FORMULATING SUCCESS AS A BLACK WOMAN IN SCIENCE

Sources:

Kizzmekia Corbett

Moderna Vaccine Co-Lead Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett Shares Her Journey



About The Author


shaunaupp

Mother, Photographer, Wisecracker.... not necessarily in that order.

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