by Aleicia Zhu
Black History Month celebrates incredible black figures from both the past and the present. It is The Helix’s tribute to Black History Month, and an effort to incorporate diverse narratives into the STEM curriculum.
A picture of Kizzmekia Corbett [1].
“It’s not about what you’re saying, it’s about how you relate to the people you’re saying it to.” — Kizzmekia Corbett
The COVID-19 vaccine has brought hope to patients and citizens across the world—and one of the people you can thank is the black scientist Kizzmekia Corbett. [1]. In her role, she collaborated with Moderna in early 2020 to create an RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. This vaccine delivers part of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence to create immune-stimulating virus proteins. Corbett was the scientist to design the animal trials and assays before the vaccine could continue to human trials.
On top of her research efforts, Corbett is aiding community outreach efforts. Even at age 20, she would give public science talks about several topics, including STDs and puberty. From college, Corbett studied sociology and health disparities, especially in minorities. With COVID-19, the issue at hand is that the black, Native American, and Hispanic demographics are more affected but are more hesitant about taking the vaccine [2].
After all, there has been a history of exploitive medical research against racial minorities. Most prominently, the Tuskegee syphilis studies that were performed without informed consent. Other examples include early eugenics laws [3]. As such, Corbett is trying to build trust from minority and religious communities by presenting science in a digestible way and from someone they can relate to [2].
As for her educational path, Corbett obtained a bachelor’s in Biological Sciences and Sociology at the University of Maryland – Baltimore County. Afterward, she earned a PhD in microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Now, Corbett is an NIH (National Institutes of Health) research fellow in immunology and is the current head of the Coronavirus Vaccines & Immunopathogenesis Team. In the future, she also has ambitions to become an independent principal investigator and, hopefully, her path can be an inspiration for BTHS students [1].
Sources
Kizzmekia S. Corbett, Ph.D. (2021). ASM.org. asm.org/Biographies/Kizzmekia-S-Corbett,-Ph-D
Subbaraman, N. (2021). This COVID-vaccine designer is tackling vaccine hesitancy — in churches and on Twitter. Nature, 590(7846), 377–377. doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00338-y
Equity in Vaccination: A Plan to Work with Communities of Color Toward COVID-19 Recovery and Beyond Working Group on Equity in COVID-19 Vaccination. (2021). www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2021/20210209-CommuniVax-national-report.pdf