Five Lessons of Resilience in Science.
Corbett-Helaire KS.
J Infect Dis. 2024 Jan 31. PMID: 38299315
Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Immunology and Infectious Diseases
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)
The Golden Goose Award
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
NIAID Merit Award
NHP COVID Vaccine Core
Theodore Roosevelt Government Leadership Award
Government Executive Media Group
Distinguished 400 Award
400 Years of African American History Commission
Early Career Applied and Biotechnological Research Award
American Society for Microbiology
Mrs. Rosa Parks Hidden Figure Award
Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute and the O Museum
Dean’s Medal
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Clinton Global Citizen Award
Clinton Foundation
Benjamin Franklin NextGen Award
The Franklin Institute
Scroll of Merit Award
National Medical Association
Hall of FAME Honoree
City of Los Angeles
Key of Life Award
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Proclamation: “Dr. Kizzmekia ‘Kizzy’ Day” – January 28
Town of Chapel Hill
Corbett-Helaire KS.
J Infect Dis. 2024 Jan 31. PMID: 38299315
Prabhakaran M, Matassoli F, Leggat D, Hoover A, Srikanth A, Wu W, Henry AR, Wang J, Lin BC, Teng IT, Schramm CA, Castro M, Serebryannyy L, Jean-Baptiste N, Moore C, Gajjala S, Todd JM, McCarthy E, Narpala S, Francica J, Program VP, Corbett-Helaire KS, Douek DC, Kwong PD, Seder RA, Andrews SF, McDermott AB.
Sci Transl Med. 2024 01 03. 16(728):eadd5960. PMID: 38170789
Hutchinson GB, Abiona OM, Ziwawo CT, Werner AP, Ellis D, Tsybovsky Y, Leist SR, Palandjian C, West A, Fritch EJ, Wang N, Wrapp D, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Ueda G, Baker D, Kanekiyo M, McLellan JS, Baric RS, King NP, Graham BS, Corbett-Helaire KS.
Nat Commun. 2023 10 04. 14(1):6195. PMID: 37794071
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
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
Hutchinson G, Abiona O, Ziwawo C, Werner A, Ellis D, Tsybovsky Y, Leist S, Palandjian C, West A, Fritch E, Wang N, Wrapp D, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Ueda G, Baker D, Kanekiyo M, McLellan J, Baric R, King N, Graham B, Corbett K.
Res Sq. 2022 Nov 07. PMID: 36380759
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
Shi W, Wang L, Zhou T, Sastry M, Yang ES, Zhang Y, Chen M, Chen X, Choe M, Creanga A, Leung K, Olia AS, Pegu A, Rawi R, Schön A, Shen CH, Stancofski ED, Talana CA, Teng IT, Wang S, Corbett KS, Tsybovsky Y, Mascola JR, Kwong PD.
Structure. 2022 09 01. 30(9):1233-1244.e7. PMID: 35841885
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
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
RSV, COVID-19, and flu—the season’s most worrisome respiratory viruses—were the focus of an hour-long Instagram Live conversation on December 14 between top vaccinologists Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire and Barney Graham.
Vaccinologist Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire—who played a key role in developing the mRNA-based platform that enabled the creation of COVID-19 vaccines that have protected millions—answers questions about COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, as well as other vaccines.
Briana Acosta, MPH ’23, and Yvette Cho, MPH ’24, are working to address longstanding health inequities affecting communities of color and other historically marginalized groups in roles at the Health Equity Compact, a coalition of more than 65…
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…
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…