Academic Profiles
Kizzmekia S Corbett
Primary Faculty

Kizzmekia S Corbett

Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases

Immunology and Infectious Diseases

kizzmekia_corbett@hsph.harvard.edu

Links

Overview

Dr. Corbett uses her viral immunology expertise to propel novel vaccine development for pandemic preparedness, including mRNA-1273, a leading vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine concept incorporated in mRNA-1273 was designed by Dr. Corbett's NIH team from viral sequence and rapidly deployed to industry partner, Moderna, Inc., for Phase 1 clinical trial, which unprecedently began only 66 days from viral sequence release. mRNA-1273 was shown to be 94.1% effective in Phase 3 trial and is authorized for use in multiple countries. Alongside mRNA-1273, Dr. Corbett boasts a patent portfolio which also includes universal coronavirus and influenza vaccine concepts and novel therapeutic antibodies. In all, she has over 15 years of experience studying dengue virus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, and coronaviruses, garnering several prestigious awards, such as the Benjamin Franklin Next Gen Award and the Salzman Memorial Award in Virology. Combining her research goals with her knack for mentorship, Dr. Corbett invests much of her time in underserved communities as an advocator of STEM education and vaccine awareness.

BSc, 2008, Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences | Secondary Major in Sociology
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

PhD, 2014, Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC)

Proclamation: “Dr. Kizzmekia ‘Kizzy’ Day” – January 2801-2021
Town of Chapel Hill

Hall of FAME Honoree02-2021
City of Los Angeles

Key of Life Award02-2021
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Benjamin Franklin NextGen Award04-2021
The Franklin Institute

Scroll of Merit Award04-2021
National Medical Association

Dean’s Medal05-2021
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Clinton Global Citizen Award05-2021
Clinton Foundation

Mrs. Rosa Parks Hidden Figure Award06-2021
Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute and the O Museum

Early Career Applied and Biotechnological Research Award08-2020
American Society for Microbiology

Distinguished 400 Award09-2020
400 Years of African American History Commission

Theodore Roosevelt Government Leadership Award10-2020
Government Executive Media Group

NIAID Merit Award11-2020
NHP COVID Vaccine Core

The Golden Goose Award12-2020
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Bibliography

Infant rhesus macaques immunized against SARS-CoV-2 are protected against heterologous virus challenge 1 year later.

Milligan EC, Olstad K, Williams CA, Mallory M, Cano P, Cross KA, Munt JE, Garrido C, Lindesmith L, Watanabe J, Usachenko JL, Hopkins L, Immareddy R, Shaan Lakshmanappa Y, Elizaldi SR, Roh JW, Sammak RL, Pollard RE, Yee JL, Herbek S, Scobey T, Miehlke D, Fouda G, Ferrari G, Gao H, Shen X, Kozlowski PA, Montefiori D, Hudgens MG, Edwards DK, Carfi A, Corbett KS, Graham BS, Fox CB, Tomai M, Iyer SS, Baric R, Reader R, Dittmer DP, Van Rompay KKA, Permar SR, De Paris K.

Sci Transl Med. 2023 03. 15(685):eadd6383. PMID: 36454813

Co-immunization with hemagglutinin stem immunogens elicits cross-group neutralizing antibodies and broad protection against influenza A viruses.

Moin SM, Boyington JC, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Gillespie RA, Cerutti G, Cheung CS, Cagigi A, Gallagher JR, Brand J, Prabhakaran M, Tsybovsky Y, Stephens T, Fisher BE, Creanga A, Ataca S, Rawi R, Corbett KS, Crank MC, Karlsson Hedestam GB, Gorman J, McDermott AB, Harris AK, Zhou T, Kwong PD, Shapiro L, Mascola JR, Graham BS, Kanekiyo M.

Immunity. 2022 12 13. 55(12):2405-2418.e7. PMID: 36356572

Lessons from the pandemic: Responding to emerging zoonotic viral diseases-a Keystone Symposia report.

Cable J, Fauci A, Dowling WE, Günther S, Bente DA, Yadav PD, Madoff LC, Wang LF, Arora RK, Van Kerkhove M, Chu MC, Jaenisch T, Epstein JH, Frost SDW, Bausch DG, Hensley LE, Bergeron É, Sitaras I, Gunn MD, Geisbert TW, Muñoz-Fontela C, Krammer F, de Wit E, Nordenfelt P, Saphire EO, Gilbert SC, Corbett KS, Branco LM, Baize S, van Doremalen N, Krieger MA, Clemens SAC, Hesselink R, Hartman D.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2022 12. 1518(1):209-225. PMID: 36183296

LY-CoV1404 (bebtelovimab) potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Westendorf K, Žentelis S, Wang L, Foster D, Vaillancourt P, Wiggin M, Lovett E, van der Lee R, Hendle J, Pustilnik A, Sauder JM, Kraft L, Hwang Y, Siegel RW, Chen J, Heinz BA, Higgs RE, Kallewaard NL, Jepson K, Goya R, Smith MA, Collins DW, Pellacani D, Xiang P, de Puyraimond V, Ricicova M, Devorkin L, Pritchard C, O'Neill A, Dalal K, Panwar P, Dhupar H, Garces FA, Cohen CA, Dye JM, Huie KE, Badger CV, Kobasa D, Audet J, Freitas JJ, Hassanali S, Hughes I, Munoz L, Palma HC, Ramamurthy B, Cross RW, Geisbert TW, Menachery V, Lokugamage K, Borisevich V, Lanz I, Anderson L, Sipahimalani P, Corbett KS, Yang ES, Zhang Y, Shi W, Zhou T, Choe M, Misasi J, Kwong PD, Sullivan NJ, Graham BS, Fernandez TL, Hansen CL, Falconer E, Mascola JR, Jones BE, Barnhart BC.

Cell Rep. 2022 05 17. 39(7):110812. PMID: 35568025

mRNA-1273 or mRNA-Omicron boost in vaccinated macaques elicits similar B cell expansion, neutralizing responses, and protection from Omicron.

Gagne M, Moliva JI, Foulds KE, Andrew SF, Flynn BJ, Werner AP, Wagner DA, Teng IT, Lin BC, Moore C, Jean-Baptiste N, Carroll R, Foster SL, Patel M, Ellis M, Edara VV, Maldonado NV, Minai M, McCormick L, Honeycutt CC, Nagata BM, Bock KW, Dulan CNM, Cordon J, Flebbe DR, Todd JM, McCarthy E, Pessaint L, Van Ry A, Narvaez B, Valentin D, Cook A, Dodson A, Steingrebe K, Nurmukhambetova ST, Godbole S, Henry AR, Laboune F, Roberts-Torres J, Lorang CG, Amin S, Trost J, Naisan M, Basappa M, Willis J, Wang L, Shi W, Doria-Rose NA, Zhang Y, Yang ES, Leung K, O'Dell S, Schmidt SD, Olia AS, Liu C, Harris DR, Chuang GY, Stewart-Jones G, Renzi I, Lai YT, Malinowski A, Wu K, Mascola JR, Carfi A, Kwong PD, Edwards DK, Lewis MG, Andersen H, Corbett KS, Nason MC, McDermott AB, Suthar MS, Moore IN, Roederer M, Sullivan NJ, Douek DC, Seder RA.

Cell. 2022 04 28. 185(9):1556-1571.e18. PMID: 35447072

LY-CoV1404 (bebtelovimab) potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Westendorf K, Žentelis S, Wang L, Foster D, Vaillancourt P, Wiggin M, Lovett E, van der Lee R, Hendle J, Pustilnik A, Sauder JM, Kraft L, Hwang Y, Siegel RW, Chen J, Heinz BA, Higgs RE, Kallewaard NL, Jepson K, Goya R, Smith MA, Collins DW, Pellacani D, Xiang P, de Puyraimond V, Ricicova M, Devorkin L, Pritchard C, O'Neill A, Dalal K, Panwar P, Dhupar H, Garces FA, Cohen CA, Dye JM, Huie KE, Badger CV, Kobasa D, Audet J, Freitas JJ, Hassanali S, Hughes I, Munoz L, Palma HC, Ramamurthy B, Cross RW, Geisbert TW, Menacherry V, Lokugamage K, Borisevich V, Lanz I, Anderson L, Sipahimalani P, Corbett KS, Yang ES, Zhang Y, Shi W, Zhou T, Choe M, Misasi J, Kwong PD, Sullivan NJ, Graham BS, Fernandez TL, Hansen CL, Falconer E, Mascola JR, Jones BE, Barnhart BC.

bioRxiv. 2022 Mar 24. PMID: 33972947

Protection from SARS-CoV-2 Delta one year after mRNA-1273 vaccination in rhesus macaques coincides with anamnestic antibody response in the lung.

Gagne M, Corbett KS, Flynn BJ, Foulds KE, Wagner DA, Andrew SF, Todd JM, Honeycutt CC, McCormick L, Nurmukhambetova ST, Davis-Gardner ME, Pessaint L, Bock KW, Nagata BM, Minai M, Werner AP, Moliva JI, Tucker C, Lorang CG, Zhao B, McCarthy E, Cook A, Dodson A, Teng IT, Mudvari P, Roberts-Torres J, Laboune F, Wang L, Goode A, Kar S, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Yang ES, Shi W, Ploquin A, Doria-Rose N, Carfi A, Mascola JR, Boritz EA, Edwards DK, Andersen H, Lewis MG, Suthar MS, Graham BS, Roederer M, Moore IN, Nason MC, Sullivan NJ, Douek DC, Seder RA.

Cell. 2022 01 06. 185(1):113-130.e15. PMID: 34921774

News

Preparing for the next public health emergency

Developing life-saving vaccines, directing funding toward pandemic preparedness, building collaborations between public and private entities, and ensuring strict and efficient regulation will all be needed to prepare for future health emergencies, said Harvard Chan School's Kizzmekia Corbett at…

‘Road map’ for a stronger pandemic response

A new road map for living with COVID, produced by some of the most prominent national experts on the disease, emphasizes boosting indoor air quality, helping people with long COVID, and broadening the nation’s focus to other respiratory…

Kizzmekia Corbett among 2021 Bostonians of the Year

Kizzmekia Corbett, assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard Chan School, was named one of the 2021 Bostonians of the Year by the Boston Globe for her pioneering research aimed at developing a COVID-19 vaccine and…

TIME names Kizzmekia Corbett one of four heroes of the year

Kizzmekia Corbett of Harvard Chan School was named one of four “heroes of the year” for 2021 by TIME magazine for helping develop the mRNA-based vaccine platform that enabled the creation of innovative and highly effective COVID-19 vaccines.

view more news