Kizzmekia Corbett, PhD, a vaccine scientist at the National Institutes of Health and UNC School of Medicine Alumna, was named one of Time magazines Heroes of the Year for her work on developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

Kizzmekia Corbett, a 2014 graduate of the UNC School of Medicine Microbiology and Immunology PhD Program, has been named among Time Magazines 2021 Heroes of the Year.

Times 2021 Heroes of the Year recognition honors the scientists whose work produced COVID-19 vaccines, including Corbett; Barney Graham, MD, PhD, former deputy director of the NIH Vaccine Research Center; Katalin Kariko, PhD, biochemist and adjunct professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research in the Perelman School of Medicine.

As a student in the UNC School of Medicine, Corbetts mentor was Aravinda de Silva, PhD, professor in the UNC Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Corbett focused on vaccine development and studied dengue virus at UNC. She won an off-campus dissertation fellowship from the UNC Graduate School and conducted research in Sri Lanka, and she was involved in extracurricular activities, including serving as a representative on the UNC Student Congress, a delegate to the UNC System Association of Student Governments, a staff member in the Honor System Attorney Generals office, and as a member of the science policy advisory group.

In 2014, Corbett was appointed to serve as the team lead for coronavirus research within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Centers Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory. Corbetts team partnered with Moderna to create a vaccine using state of the art mRNA technology in. The FDA cleared Modernas vaccine for emergency use in December 2020.

Today, Corbett is an assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Her work has garnered several prestigious awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Next Gen Award and the Salzman Memorial Award in Virology. Additionally, the Board of Commissioners in Corbetts hometown of Hillsborough, North Carolina, declared Jan. 12, 2021, as Kizzmekia Kizzy Corbett Day.

In February 2021, Corbett was named to Time Magazines 2021 TIME100 Next List, and in May 2021, Corbett and Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the NIAID, delivered UNC-Chapel Hills Spring Commencement Address.

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Corbett Named One of Time's Heroes of the Year | Newsroom - UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine