Kizzmekia Corbett

Kizzmekia Corbett is a viral immunologist and vaccine scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she is the Melvin J. and Geraldine L. Glimcher Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases. She previously helped lead NIH coronavirus vaccine research that directly contributed to Moderna’s mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine, and she is known for public communication on vaccine trust and vaccine inquisitiveness.

Fast Vaccine Science Still Fails Without Public Trust

Immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett, who helped develop the first COVID-19 vaccine to enter clinical trials, argues in a TED talk that vaccine readiness depends as much on public trust as on scientific speed. She says scientists must treat the “vaccine inquisitive” — people with doubts, misinformation or fears — as an audience owed serious answers, not contempt. In her account, the next pandemic will test whether researchers can communicate uncertainty and risk as carefully as they design vaccines.

TEDJul 6, 20266 min read