About this event:
A live, public event on the topics and intersection of race, faith, and science. We will discuss the real questions that people have regarding vaccines, concerns around scientific mistrust, racial injustice in medicine, and what faith has to do with all of this. We hope you'll join us for this extremely relevant and critical conversation.
About our guests:
Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph.D.
Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett is a research fellow and the scientific lead for the Coronavirus Vaccines & Immunopathogenesis Team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccine Research Center (VRC). She holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences, with a secondary major in Sociology from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Meyerhoff Scholar and NIH undergraduate scholar. A viral immunologist by training, Dr. Corbett uses her expertise to propel novel vaccine development for pandemic preparedness and was the lead scientist for the Moderna COVID-19 mRNA-1273 vaccine. Along with her research activities, Dr. Corbett is an active member of the NIH Fellows Committee and avid advocator of STEM education and vaccine awareness in the community. Combining her research goals with her knack for mentoring, Dr. Corbett aims to become an independent principal investigator.
Kenneth (Kenny) Gibbs, Ph.D.
Dr. Kenneth (Kenny) Gibbs, Jr. is Chief of the Undergraduate and Predoctoral Cross-Disciplinary Training Branch within the Division of Training, Workforce Development and Diversity (TWD) at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). In this role, he oversees the Institute’s long standing programs to enhance diversity (MARC, RISE, IMSD, PREP, Bridges), as well as institutional components of the NIH Common Fund’s Diversity Program Consortium. At NIGMS, he also is a Program Director in the Division of Genetics & Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology where he leads and administers grants to promote basic research in the area of stem cell biology. Dr. Gibbs holds a B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (summa cum laude) from the University of Maryland where he was a Meyerhoff, MARC, and HHMI scholar, and a Ph.D. in Immunology from Stanford University. Dr. Gibbs has previously served on the committee for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s consensus report, “Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century,” on the Board of Directors for the National Postdoctoral Association and he has written about scientific training and diversity issues for Science Careers, and Scientific American.