Kizzmekia Shanta Corbett
Personal Information
Born: 1986
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
University of Maryland-Baltimore County, BSc Biological Sciences 2008; UNC Chapel Hill, PhD Microbiology & Immunology 2014
Professional Life
Field of Study: Immunology; Microbiology
Institution/Corporation: Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health; Harvard Radcliffe Institute; National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
Degrees & Memberships: Member UNC Frank Porter Graham Honor Society
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2021, NAACP Key of Life Award; 2022, Early Career Award Bloomberg School of Public Health; 2021, Clinton Global Citizen Award, Clinton Foundation; 2021, Mrs. Rosa Parks Hidden Figure Award, Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute & the O Museum; 2020, Early Career Applied & Biotechnological Research Award, American Society for Microbiology; 2020, Distinguished 400 Award, 400 Years of African American History Commission; 2020, Theodore Roosevelt Government Leadership Award, Government Executive Media Group; 2020, NIAID Merit Award, NHP COVID Vaccine Core; 2020, Golden Goose Award, AAAS; 2021, Kaiser Permanente s African Americans in Health Care Award; 2020, Foundation for National Institutes of Health Salzman Memorial Award in Virology; 2021, E.E.Just Award, ASCB; 2022, Fulbright Prize; 2021, Federal Employee of the Year Award; 2022, Sabin Vaccine Institute s Rising Star Award; 2021, Green Sands Prize; 2023, Hrabowski Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Achievements: first African American woman to lead an NIH vaccine-development team—for the Moderna COVID vaccine; studies dengue virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses (including SARS) & coronoviruses
Helped develop the Moderna COVID vaccine
Is a voice for awareness of racial health disparities & encourages trust in science
Her boss at NIAID, Dr. Anthony Fauci, called her "a rising star"
Her research focuses on viral diseases including dengue, RSV, & MERS
Volunteers at schools encouraging kids, especially minority ones, to pursue careers in STEM
As a postdoc, studied dengue in Sri Lanka
Made videos about COVID for Michelle Obama's Instagram account during the pandemic
1st African-American female to head an NIH vaccine development team
Holds 3 patents