Kizzmekia Corbett

Kizzmekia "Kizzy" Shanta Corbett (born January 26, 1986)[1] is an American viral immunologist at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIAID NIH) based in Bethesda, Maryland.[2][3] Appointed to the VRC in 2014, she is currently the scientific lead of the VRC's Coronavirus Team,[4] with research efforts aimed at propelling novel coronavirus vaccines, including a COVID-19 vaccine.[5][6] In December 2020, the Institute's Director Anthony Fauci, said: "Kizzy is an African American scientist who is right at the forefront of the development of the vaccine."[7]

Kizzmekia Corbett
Born
Kizzmekia Shanta Corbett

(1986-01-26) January 26, 1986
Hurdle Mills, North Carolina, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County (BS)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (MS, PhD)
OccupationImmunologist
Years active2014–present
EmployerNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Early life and education

Corbett was born in Hurdle Mills, North Carolina to Rhonda Brooks.[3] She grew up in Hillsborough, North Carolina,[8] where she had a large family of step-siblings and foster siblings.[2]

Corbett went to Oak Lane Elementary School[9] and A.L. Stanback Middle School.[8][10] Her fourth grade teacher, Myrtis Bradsher, recalls recognizing Corbett's talent at an early age and encouraging Kizzy's mother to place her in advanced classes. "I always thought she is going to do something one day. She dotted i’s and crossed t’s. The best in my 30 years of teaching," Bradsher said in a 2020 interview with The Washington Post.[9]

In 2004, Corbett graduated from Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina.[8] In 2008, Corbett received a B.S. in biological sciences and sociology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), as a student in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program.[2] In 2014, Corbett received a PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[11]

Career

While in high school, Corbett realized that she wanted to pursue a scientific career, and as part of a program called ProjectSEED, spent her summer holiday working in research laboratories, one of which was at UNC's Kenan Labs with organic chemist James Morkin.[1][2][8] In 2005, she was a summer intern at Stony Brook University in Gloria Viboud's lab where she studied Yersinia pseudotuberculosis pathogenesis. From 2006 to 2007, she worked as a lab tech in Susan Dorsey's lab at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

After earning her bachelor's degree, from 2006 to 2009, Corbett was a biological sciences trainer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she worked alongside Dr. Barney S. Graham. At the NIH, Corbett worked on the pathogenesis of respiratory syncytial virus as well as on a project focused on innovative vaccine platform advancement.[1]

From 2009 to 2014, Corbett studied human antibody responses to dengue virus in Sri Lankan children under the supervision of Aravinda de Silva at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[11] She studied how people produce antibodies in response to dengue fever, and how the genetics of dengue fever impact the severity of a disease. From April to May 2014, as part of her research for her dissertation, Corbett worked as a visiting scholar at Genetech Research Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka.[1]

In October 2014, Corbett became a research fellow, working as a viral immunologist, at the NIH. Her research aims to uncover mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and host immunity.[10] She specifically focuses on development of novel vaccines for coronaviridae.[10] Her early research considered the development of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) vaccine antigens.[12][13] During this time, she identified a simple way to make spike proteins that are stabilized in a conformation that renders them more immunogenic and manufacturable, in collaboration with researchers at Scripps Research Institute and Dartmouth College.[14]

Development of COVID-19 vaccine

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Corbett started working on a vaccine to protect people from coronavirus disease.[2] Recognizing that the virus was similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Corbett's team utilized previous knowledge of optimal coronavirus S proteins to tackle the novel coronavirus.[15][16] S proteins form a “crown” on the surface of coronaviruses and are crucial for engagement of host cell receptors and the initiation of membrane fusion in coronavirus disease. This makes them a particularly vulnerable target for coronavirus prophylactics and therapeutics. Based on her previous research, Corbett's team, in collaboration with investigators at UT Austin, transplanted stabilizing mutations from SARS-CoV S protein into SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.[14] She was part of the NIH team who helped solve the cryogenic electron microscopy (CryoEM) structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.[17] Her prior research suggested that messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding S protein could be used to excite the immune response to produce protective antibodies against coronavirus disease 2019.[14][18]

To manufacture and test the COVID-19 vaccine Corbett's team partnered with Moderna, a biotechnology company, to rapidly enter animal studies. Subsequently, the vaccine entered Phase 1 clinical trial only 66 days after the virus sequence was released. The trial, to be completed in at least 45 people, is a dose escalation study in the form of two injections separated by 28 days.[19] Corbett's work afforded her the opportunity to be a part of the National Institutes of Health team that welcomed Donald Trump to the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center in March 2020.[3][20][21][22]

Corbett has called for the public to be cautious and respectful of one another during the coronavirus pandemic, explaining that regular hand washing and sneezing into one's elbow can help to minimize the spread of the virus. She has also emphasized that we should not stigmatize people who may be from areas where the virus started.[8] When asked about her involvement with the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, Corbett said, "To be living in this moment where I have the opportunity to work on something that has imminent global importance…it’s just a surreal moment for me".[23][24]

Corbett has worked to rebuild trust with vaccine hesitant populations such as the Black community.[25][26] For example, she presented education about the COVID-19 vaccine development to Black Health Matters in October 2020.[27][28] Her race has been a focus of government outreach; after a study released by the NAACP and others revealed that only 14% of black Americans believe a COVID-19 vaccine will be safe, NIAID Director Fauci was explicit: "the first thing you might want to say to my African American brothers and sisters is that the vaccine that you're going to be taking was developed by an African American woman."[29]

Academic service

Corbett regularly shares information on Twitter and takes part in programs to inspire youth in underserved communities.[10]

Honors

Selected works and publications

References
  1. "Corbett continues quest for dengue fever vaccine". UNC Health Talk. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020.
  2. Givens, Dana; Blanco, Lydia; Corbett, Kizzmekia (26 March 2020). "Meet The Black Woman Taking the Lead to Develop a Vaccine For COVID-19". Black Enterprise. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020.
  3. Ross, Janell (12 April 2020). "Scientist Kizzmekia Corbett leads the way on COVID-19 vaccine trials with dedication and humor". NBC News. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020.
  4. "Former M&I Graduate Student, Kizzmekia Corbett, Developing a Vaccine against the Coronavirus". Department of Microbiology and Immunology. 30 January 2020. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  5. Sheikh, Knvul; Thomas, Katie (28 January 2020). "Researchers Are Racing to Make a Coronavirus Vaccine. Will It Help?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020.
  6. Stein, Rob; King, Noel; Corbett, Kizzmekia (21 February 2020). "NIH Lab Races To Create Coronavirus Vaccine In Record Time". Morning Edition. NPR. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020.
  7. Romero, Laura (December 13, 2020). "Kizzmekia Corbett, an African American woman, is praised as key scientist behind COVID-19 vaccine". ABC News. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  8. Edwards, Dale (19 February 2020). "She has our back: Vaccine push has local connection". The News of Orange County.
  9. Fears, Darryl (6 May 2020). "Kizzmekia Corbett spent her life preparing for this moment. Can she create the vaccine to end a pandemic?". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  10. "Keystone Symposia: Kizzmekia S. Corbett PhD; NIH, NIAID, Vaccine Research Center". Virtual Keystone Symposia. October 2018.
  11. Corbett, Kizzmekia S.; Katzelnick, Leah; Tissera, Hasitha; Amerasinghe, Ananda; de Silva, Aruna Dharshan; de Silva, Aravinda M. (15 February 2015). "Preexisting Neutralizing Antibody Responses Distinguish Clinically Inapparent and Apparent Dengue Virus Infections in a Sri Lankan Pediatric Cohort". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 211 (4): 590–599. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiu481. PMID 25336728. Wikidata ()
  12. Sims, Megan (29 March 2020). "Black woman immunologist leads charge to develop COVID-19 vaccine". TheGrio.
  13. Beaumont, Peter (1 February 2020). "Researchers make strides in race to create coronavirus vaccine". The Guardian.
  14. Neergaard, Lauran (8 March 2020). "Behind the scenes, scientists prep for COVID-19 vaccine test". The Washington Times. Associated Press.
  15. "Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett Leads Effort To Find COVID-19 Cure". NewsOne. 28 March 2020.
  16. Pollak, Suzanne (3 February 2020). "NIH Working to Develop Vaccine for Coronavirus". Montgomery Community Media.
  17. Wrapp, Daniel; Wang, Nianshuang; Corbett, Kizzmekia S.; Goldsmith, Jory A.; Hsieh, Ching-Lin; Abiona, Olubukola; Graham, Barney S.; McLellan, Jason S. (13 March 2020). "Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation". Science. 367 (6483): 1260–1263. doi:10.1126/science.abb2507. PMID 32075877. Wikidata ()
  18. Corbett, Kizzmekia S.; Edwards, Darin K.; Leist, Sarah R.; Abiona, Olubukola M.; Boyoglu-Barnum, Seyhan; Gillespie, Rebecca A.; Himansu, Sunny; Schäfer, Alexandra; Ziwawo, Cynthia T.; DiPiazza, Anthony T.; Dinnon, Kenneth H. (2020). "SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine design enabled by prototype pathogen preparedness". Nature. 586 (7830): 567–571. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2622-0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  19. Forster, Victoria (17 March 2020). "First Person Injected With Trial Coronavirus Vaccine In Seattle". Forbes.
  20. "First Campus Visit: Trump Gets Update on Coronavirus Research; Congressional Delegation Gets Coronavirus Update" (PDF). NIH Record. National Institutes of Health. LXXII (6): 1, 6, 7–9. 20 March 2020.
  21. "The woman leading COVID-19 vaccine trials is 'not your average pocket-protector scientist'". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  22. Silver, Johanna. "Dr. Fauci Spotlights Young Black Woman Who Helped Develop COVID-19 Vaccine, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett". NowThis News. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  23. Hansen, Sarah (2 March 2020). "UMBC alumnae racing to develop coronavirus vaccine". UMBC Magazine.
  24. "Kizzmekia Corbett, an African American woman, is praised as key scientist behind COVID-19 vaccine". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  25. "Lead vaccine developer says she wants to help rebuild trust brick by brick". CNN. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  26. "Kizzmekia Corbett, an African American woman, is praised as key scientist behind COVID-19 vaccine". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  27. "COVID-19 Vaccine Kizzmekia S. Corbett, PHD Black Health Matters Fall Summit 2020". Youtube Black Health Matters channel. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  28. "The Race to Create a Coronavirus Vaccine". Black Health Matters. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  29. Harmeet Kaur. "Fauci wants people to know that one of lead scientists who developed the Covid-19 vaccine is a Black woman". CNN. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  30. "PROJECT SEED PARTICIPANTS & MENTORS". The TarHelium. The North Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society (NCACS). 33 (1): 4–5. Fall 2002.
  31. Sremaniak, Laura (August 2015). "Where are those SEED Alumni now? Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, SEED Alumna from 2004". The TarHelium. The North Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society (NCACS). 46 (1): 19.
  32. "Meet the Scholars from 2006: Kizzmekia Corbett". Office of Intramural Training & Education at the National Institutes of Health. 2006.
  33. "Graduate School Events: 2013 Graduate Student Recognition Celebration". The Graduate School at UNC-Chapel Hill. 10 April 2013.
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