Join us at the Positive-Strand RNA Viruses
@KeystoneSymp
in Ireland this Oct. With a keynote from
@niaidnews
VRC’s Ted Pierson + many speakers, we explore +strand virology w/ an interdisciplinary angle.
Scholarship/Abstract Deadline is July 23!!!
Okay,
@TIME
is one thing, but why does making it to a
@Jeopardy
question feel like such a big deal to me?!!!
I grew up watching this show with my grandma … I’m completely in my feels right now. 💫😫
I've been admitted into the 1st COVID-19 vaccine trial.
I'm grateful for my health. For the 1000s of scientists who brought us here. For the team that developed this vaccine (
@NIH
,
@moderna_tx
, et al). For
@KPWaResearch
, and the nurse who came out of retirement to draw my blood
Our (co-inventors
@McLellan_Lab
) COVID-19 vaccine (spike delivered by
@moderna_tx
's mRNA) was just injected into the 1st human in phase 1 trial, only 66 days after viral sequence release... a testament to rapid vaccine development for emerging diseases🦠💚
Once I put "Beyonce also has 24 hours in a day" on the white board in our break room, and a student (assumingely) scribbled through it and wrote "Beyonce has people".
Touche. On this day. TOUCHE.
I’ll raise you one: BY THE TIME YOU DETECT ONE VARIANT ANOTHER IS ALREADY CIRCULATING UNDER THE RADAR SOMEWHERE SO WITH A MIX OF SURVEILLANCE LAGS, LOW VACCINE UPTAKE, INEQUITABLE VACCINE ACCESS WE ARE WILL BE CHASING VARIANTS ENDLESSLY.
(my first all caps tweet)
Please. Pretty please. With a cherry on top.
I’m still begging. That’s just where I am. I have the data in a thread on my page but at this point… just please go.
To. Day.
Oh yeah… Iz married now.
My professional name will remain Corbett but legally I’ll be adding “Helaire” pronounced the French way.
“Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire”
Today, my dad and my PhD dad get to witness me getting an honorary degree from UNC. I didn’t “walk” after defending my dissertation. So today... I walk.
So many full circle moments this year.
Honored.
The 2021
@TIME
100 Next List includes artists, innovators, advocates...
Me.
Honored.
Blessed.
Prepared.
Purposed.
Next.
Profile written by Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Ok so a reporter called my collaborators and boss and made a story and I’m crying, cause loveeeee...
The woman leading COVID-19 vaccine trials is ‘not your average pocket-protector scientist’ via
@nbcnews
Thrilled to be appointed faculty in
@HarvardChanSPH
's Immunology & Infectious Diseases Dept. The last year has been a "whirlwind", but through it all... I tapped into my purpose at the intersection of science *and* public health. And, at Harvard... I will "take it up a knotch".
We are so excited to be welcoming
@KizzyPhD
to
@HarvardChanSPH
as assistant professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, following more than six years as a research fellow at the
@NIAIDNews
Vaccine Research Center.
Live view of our neutralization assay team scrambling to make yet another virus variant every time the media publishes about a new single amino acid change without context. 😒
This is Dasia Taylor.
She invented a new type of suture that changes color to show if a wound is infected.
She won the state science fair, became a finalist in a national competition, and now has her sights set on a patent.
She's only 17.
I wish one of the takeaway messages from the pandemic was IF YOU HAVE A COLD STAY AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE.
People will sneeze or cough and then yell across the room “It’s not COVID, I took a test.”
Okay bro, I don’t want to catch your flu or RSV either.
Sometimes, I start my lab meetings with a world view of “things”. It helps to provide a place where it’s clear science is second to sanity, inclusion, respect, etc.
I don’t even have to words to begin lab meeting next Monday,
My lab is at Harvard. Btw.
It’s official!!!
@BarneyGrahamMD
& I are Federal Employees of the Year. Tonight, we will accept the “Sammie Award” following an intro from Dr. Fauci - a gratifying moment given our recent re-positioning from
@NIH
.
Here’s to public service forever even from our new posts. 💫 🥂
To everyone asking me If I recommend the vaccine(s) for children under 5…
On my first date with my fiancé 4 years ago, I asked “Are you planning to vaccinate your kids?” just to make sure from the start we were on the same page that …
YES.
The “postdoc” is an antiquated concept and should just be replaced with real jobs with real benefits and retirement packages. For God’s sake, the folks have PhDs… they’ve paid their dues.
!!! I’m biased, of course, but I’m so happy the blood sweat and tears these two scientists put into understanding the fundamentals of mRNA technology is being honored by the NOBEL! 🦠💚🥹
BREAKING NEWS
The 2023
#NobelPrize
in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Dr. Corbett
@KizzyPhD
will be joining the faculty of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard as an Asst Prof. She has been a Research Fellow in my lab for almost 7 years and before her PhD at UNC a UGSP student & summer intern reaching back to HS. I couldn’t be prouder.
Honored to be the winner the “NextGen Award”, bestowed by The Franklin Institute, an organization that has “predicted” & awarded previous Nobel Laureates.
I’ll save my speech for the ceremony, but, this morning, I...
Thank God.
via
@phillyinquirer
I have been up all night thinking about this. We are in a very sad state over in academia land.
It doesn’t feel safe.
I don’t feel protected.
And, I am tired of grieving.
Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey, vice president of Student Affairs at Lincoln University-Missouri, reportedly died by suicide from “bullying and severe mistreatment” in her role
University President John Moseley is now facing calls to resign
4/n: I am a COVID vaccine inventor.
… In Louisiana… a “hot-spot”… watching the virus do what viruses do.
… Feeling helpless because people are opting out of the vaccine.
I um… I… I don’t have the words.
I empathize with this sentiment. I want every single person to get vaccinated out of their own informed will, & I’m here if you ever wanna chat or I can be your met date (haha) 🙃
#shootyourshot
They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one 🙏♥️
Here is the context: you are going to read and hear about a million and one variant viruses, because viruses mutate by nature. It’s scary, I know. But, a couple of amino acids is not the same a whole whole new virus strain in the way that we’ve been taught to think about flu.
Black women who are going to academia, put "help me find someone to do my hair" in your negotiations. It sounds petty, but I have spent HOURS to no avail trying to find a single blowout in Boston. Like, where do the people get their hair done?????
1/n: I’m in Louisiana for a non-COVID family emergency.
Said emergency makes me visit the ICU every day, three times a day. Been here since Saturday, and in the process I’ve seen
A
LOT.
I subscribed to a rose delivery service so that every other Monday, 2 dozen roses are delivered to my office. The color is a surprise, which just adds to the anticipation of it all.
Hands down, one of the best self-care actions I’ve taken this year.
10/10 highly recommend.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine Proves 90% Effective in Latest Trials
SCIENCE WINS!!! This is GREAT news for mRNA technology, AWESOME for the stabilized prefusion spike antigen.
I am in tears.
Two of the leading experts in COVID-19 research will team up to deliver
#UNC
’s Commencement address. Drs. Anthony Fauci and
@KizzyPhD
, a Carolina alumna, will deliver their remarks virtually during the
#UNC21
ceremonies
Update: I’m 1 month into my faculty position and I almost forgot to enroll into my benefits. I also forgot my anniversary. I also forget to tweet. 😩
That’s how life is going…
Blessed and busy.
& LOVED. 💕
General public: “OMG they rushed the vaccine..”
Me: *internal thoughts*
I sure wish we didn’t waste those 2 weeks between phase 1 approval and first injection.
Darn why didn’t we already test the MERS concept in phase 1 to chop off a month or so?
When I say
#vinology
, this is what I mean...
Champagne flutes displaying the SARS-CoV-2 spike attached to monoclonal antibody 555 with
@McBrideSisters
wine to celebrate getting my vaccine a day before the one year anniversary of becoming aware of a virus outbreak in Wuhan, China
I'm about to walk to
@Target
for peace. And, it will be my first time aimlessly perusing the aisles as a vaccinated person so I expect that I will be taking 5pm call from the candle clearance section. 😩😂
Thanks to
@blackdoctor_org
for asking this question. And, for Dr. Fauci for now making it likely impossible to enforce “Kizzmekia” cause everyone now knows he’s allowed to say “Kizzy”. Haha 😂
If ever told my science would be in a Smithsonian, I’d have laughed.
Today, I say, “Dream big & give God the last laugh.” 💫
#TheFUTURES
features me,
@BarneyGrahamMD
, our
@NIH
team & collaborators, a Spike protein model, & vaccine vials from our revolutionary initial studies.
An honor to welcome Dr Barney Graham to
#TheFUTURES
tonight. He and Dr Kizzmekia Corbett
@KizzyPhD
worked with a team to develop vaccines against Covid-19. They’re among the featured futurists in our show, depicted in AI portraits by Nettrice Gaskins
@nettieb
@SmithsonianAIB
Announcing… The Kizzmekia S. Corbett Endowed Scholarship at
@umbc
- scholarships for Meyerhoff scholars who demonstrate a commitment to advancement of the sciences and humanities through civil engagement, academic endeavors, or extracurricular activities.
I love LOVE.
I’m the friend who still, at the big age of 35, mails Valentines, makes heart-shaped pancakes, & all things corny. I get that Valentine’s Day is commercial & blah blah, but find some time to celebrate love, if even for self, today.
& everyday.
❤️
Elated to share that my
#COVID19
paper was just REJECTED at
@cellhostmicrobe
! If you’re a young grad student or trainee, don’t take rejection too hard. This is part of the process. Dust yourself off, pick yourself up, and try again. Stay the course!
#AcademicTwitter
In all, please don’t be alarmed any more than you have been through this pandemic. The precautionary measures (ie. no travel) in the UK are in line with sensible measures following a regional virus spike.
If you are interested in how the COVID-19 vaccine development went down... this is the thread to follow. Today marks the day that we woke up to SARS-CoV-2 sequences online. Ever since it has been nonstop with vaccine development fueled by preparedness.
I wanna post the video of my grandma getting her COVID-19 vaccine, but she's wearing a
@DukeU
sweater, and ...
... TARRRRRRRRRRR
So this tweet serves to say: get your grandmas vaccinated, and also, if you pray, send one up to my grandma who is a delusional Duke fan.
I was called a DEI recruit to my face.
(Not at Harvard; I would leave immediately)
At NIH. My 2nd week in my postdoc.
By another postdoc who TECHNICALLY, while not racially diverse, characterized as “DEI” too.
In my head, I was like baby we are in the same boat 😂
Ok, hear me out: vaccines given in the TSA line.
Oh, and order ahead for airport coffee so that your cup of liquid crack meets you (preferably by robot) after TSA.
Thank you
@EBONYMag
for honoring me tonight as “Innovator of the Year” and
@Harvard
’s first ever Black student body President with a Next Gen Award! Both of our speeches spoke of our meager Southern roots and... well… look at us now!
#believeandachieve
I’m sitting beside an ICU bed, writing grants, a perspective, and papers. I joke about the productivity that lack of sleep provides, but Dear God, I am TIRED of powering through in pain and trauma. This feels like a life/career staple for me and “Jesus be a fence”… Puleaseeee.
There are 3 moments last year when my nerdiness met the preparedness. Receiving SARS-CoV-2 spike plasmids in the mail from
@McLellan_Lab
@goodwish916
@LabWrapp
only 2 weeks after sequence was one of them. I sprinted to Dr.
@BarneyGrahamMD
’s office elated! 😀 😂
January 24th, 2020 was the day we received the plasmids we needed to start making the spike protein which is the basis for everything related to vaccine development. Dr. Corbett
@KizzyPhD
was ready to get started.
The neutralization teams have a message:
"Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Retains Neutralizing Activity Against Emerging Variants First Identified in the U.K. and the Republic of South Africa"
Sorry to those who I've been ignoring yin this regard for weeks lol
We just announced that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine retains neutralizing activity against emerging variants first identified in the U.K. and the Republic of South Africa. Read more:
I'm back here b/c my 💙 is just so full.
Imagine an 81 y/o black woman, who birthed 9 children & raised them alone in rural NC after tragically losing her husband, walking from a clinic after getting a vaccine that 1 of her 18 grandkids helped develop... "in a pandemic". 😩
Unlike monoclonal antibody therapies, vaccines (especially those using the whole spike protein) make polyclonal antibody responses. This means that the antibodies your vaccinated body will make will be able to bind the coronavirus spike in multiple places... not just one.
I’m up packing to go give my first international keynote (since starting my own lab) at a biotech conference in Africa.
@MustConference
My equally yoked husband is giving a health equity keynote at the same conference.
I’m really living my wildest dreams.
Glory to God. 🙏🏿💛
I’m up. Ever since my sister’s accident, I haven’t slept a bit. Soooo here is a thread on how a clinical trial drug likely saved her life, and moreover how Black respresentation amongst
@DukeHospital
’s surgery trial coordinators saved her life.
I’m currently at
@DukeHospital
for a family emergency (too much to discuss)… but a glimmer of God showed up yesterday. A clinical trial coordinator who works with a PI who my Ma-Ma worked for for 40+ years stopped by yesterday.
Thanks for making the informed choice to be vaccinated
@BishopJakes
& for using your platform to inform & your church as a safe space for vaccinations in the community! 🙏🏿💙
.
@BishopJakes
tells the audience why he decided to get the
#Covidvaccine
He had a lot of questions initially but
@KizzyPhD
provided him with the necessary information that he received the
@moderna_tx
vaccine. Now his church is a vaccination site! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I said I wasn’t saying anything about COVID cause y’all don’t listen to me lol 😂
But Imma say this… I’m at my annual PCP appointment, and everyone in the waiting room is masked.
6/n: Update: My ICU waiting room friend lost her husband to COVID. Yesterday, I grieved her husband like I would grieve an uncle. I can only imagine what the ICU docs and nurses have been through for 1.5 years.
When I spoke to the great
@KizzyPhD
over 1 yr ago, she told me a vaccine might be authorized by end of 2020. It didn’t seem possible, but she was right. Today we're celebrating the real world impact of the work she & her colleagues have made: it’s great to see us ALL smile.
Live view of me leaving the office on a Saturday morning and casually walking by
@KizzyPhD_Lab
, only slightly ignoring the “construction crew only” signs.
Y’all… it is happening. My 8 bay, fully-equipped, custom-designed lab space is really effing happening. 🥹
I have generally never left a question unanswered (ask my math teachers)... Matthew’s either. So I met him where he was, in the audience off camera, to fill in the blanks.
The producers had to come round me up.
I know we could have done better with COVID-19 vaccine outreach and education. I’ll be the first to admit that.
But, I’m terribly concerned about this new wave of vaccine refusal for other diseases like… the MEASLES!
Please. Please. I beg. Get your vaccines, ya’ll.
“The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is reporting that there is a cluster of measles among unvaccinated residents. In addition to an index case, three locally acquired cases have been confirmed, with two of those cases being hospitalized and released. In addition, there…
I woke up, made myself a pseudo-charcuterie and made a “To boost or not to boost” flowchart for the people who, appropriately, are confused.
*disclaimer* I thought about having wine, but didn’t… yet.
#vinoology
#virology
*Kanye voice*
“Yo COVID, I’ll let you finish," but an Ebola antibody therapy, discovered by NIAID VRC's Dr. Nancy Sullivan, was just approved by the FDA...
FDA Approves Treatment for Ebola Virus
Today, I recorded my first ever commencement address, to the Class of 2021 at
@uncchapelhill
, my alma mater... my home.
An excerpt: “TARRRRRRRRR!!!” *pauses for audience reaction*
IYKYK
💙 🐑 🦶 @ UNC Chapel Hill
My science is & will forever be the world’s.
A mindset comes from my background, my undergrad education, and my experience as a federal government researcher.
Profiled here by my alma mater
@UMBC
.
The perfect send-off.
See ya later Maryland!
1/n: I’m about to use this morning’s “woke up in a panic ‘cause my ‘to do’ list is longer than my day” rant to address this consistent and *flawed* argument
... “wHy ThEy cAn’T fInD a VaCcInE fOr X vIrUs?”
Happy Birthday to the most expeditiously executed vaccine product Phase 1 clinical trial start in history!!! And, good morning especially to Dr. Jackson, folks at the NIAID trials network, and the bold and giving volunteers who made it all possible. 💉 ♥️
Our (co-inventors
@McLellan_Lab
) COVID-19 vaccine (spike delivered by
@moderna_tx
's mRNA) was just injected into the 1st human in phase 1 trial, only 66 days after viral sequence release... a testament to rapid vaccine development for emerging diseases🦠💚
I just scheduled about 40 emails to send at 8:00 am. When you get yours, thank my chair, who (correctly) mentored me to examine my 3am emails from the perspective of others. Some may view it as pressure considering my status as their PI or mentor.
Heeded. So sharing.
Live view of me watching tv specials about the vaccine, and thinking it’s great there are infographics, but then seeing that the mRNA-expressed spike proteins aren’t transmembrane-anchored.
Ok, I have something to admit. I used to get mad when emails from leadership following attacks on Black people read like "Do they get it?", but after I drafted & re-drafted an email to my team this week following the attack on Asian people, I empathize more w/ it being a process
I’m supposed to be otw to 🇯🇲 to celebrate my baby sister successfully completing undergrad and securing the bag...
... I’m at lab helping the team harvest enough pseudovirus for 5000 assays.
... in a pandemic.
2020 is quite a time.
1/n: People are asking me for comments, and I'll tell you how my ex project manager used to tell me re: me overachieving & striving for "perfection" in some things...
"Don't let the perfect get in the way of the good enough."
This is darn good for 1-dose ... "in a pandemic".
As the principal investigator of
@CoreIDxKizzyPhD
, I will study "coronaviruses and other relevant emerging infectious diseases". As a citizen of this world, I will continue to be vocal about health disparities.
As a mentor... I hope I will inspire.
1/n: I’m getting my
@moderna_tx
booster tomorrow.
Following the
@US_FDA
&
@CDCgov
’s newest guidance that US citizens like myself (18+, not high risk, 10 months after 2nd dose) *may* acquire a booster, I used the following personal guide to make the choice.
Papers came out showcasing high level immune responses at 6 months in the phase 1.
The meme artists got to work making a “the vaccine immunity will only lasts 6 months”
🙄
But, don’t get in a panic over it. There will take a large amount of genetic diversity to completely make the current vaccines useless... And, here is why:
Me: I’m only giving scientific talks that incorporate/invite the community.
Multi-billion dollar endowed universities inviting me (completely missing the point that they should be engaging the community in this time too): “Ok, well what about 2022”
Me:
Our (co-inventors
@McLellan_Lab
) COVID-19 vaccine (spike delivered by
@moderna_tx
's mRNA) was just injected into the 1st human in phase 1 trial, only 66 days after viral sequence release... a testament to rapid vaccine development for emerging diseases🦠💚
Confession: I hid my pregnancy, because I was applying for this
@HHMINEWS
grant and thought it would deter the reviewers.
It didn’t. And I shouldn’t have.
Everyone has been so accommodating, as evidenced by this picture taken as I’m “any day now” away from giving birth.
I’m otw a renowned scientific conference. Tomorrow, on Juneteenth, the meeting begins.
I honestly almost removed my name from the speaker list. It took DEEP prayer to reckon that the organizers are unknowing, & so that this is a chance for me to teach.