When President Donald Trump paid a visit to the National Institutes of Health last March, vaccine research center leaders explained their life-saving mission. The key to this mission was a 34-year-old doctor named Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett.
“I was there telling the task force about the work we have been doing,” Corbett told “CBS This Morning: Saturday” co-host Michelle Miller.
Two weeks after the visit, Corbett’s team started the first phase of clinical trials. She said they took a lot of the knowledge acquired over the past six years and applied it to a vaccine platform in collaboration with Moderna. The vaccine was launched 10 months later.
“The vaccine teaches the body to defend itself against a virus, because it teaches the body to look for the virus basically by showing the body the virus’ spine protein,” he explained. “The body then says, ‘Oh, we’ve seen this protein before. Let’s fight it. ‘ That’s how it works.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, credited Corbett during a webinar for his work.
“The vaccine you are going to get was developed by an African American woman and that is just a fact,” said Fauci.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 6.5 million Americans have received their first dose of Vaccine for covid-19. That number is expected to grow daily, although it is well below what public health experts expected to see.
Corbett’s interest in science began at an early age, but she never knew the difference it would make.
“To be honest, I didn’t realize how much impact my visibility can have … I do my job because I love my job,” said Corbett.
An opportunity in your life has made a fundamental difference. She attended the University of Maryland, in Baltimore, as a Meyerhoff fellow, an aggressive program that guides minorities and women in science. Graduates of the program include surgeon general Jerome Adams.
Dr. Freeman Hrabowski was president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, for almost 30 years. He said Corbett had a solid scientific background, but the way she managed to talk to people set her apart from the rest.
“She would definitely do well in life,” said Hrabowski. “We need more scientists who can connect with people. She could do that when she was 17, easily – what we do at UMBC is to support black students, but also students in general, to ensure that they succeed in science.”
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 18% of all students graduate with a STEM diploma, between 2% are black – something Hrabowski believes needs to change.
“It’s important for people to see people who look like them, with themselves, who can get involved. If it’s about women, or if it’s about black people, because it shows that you have people who understand what you’ve been through.”
Dr. Barney Graham and Corbett have worked together for more than 15 years. Graham is not just his mentor. He is also Corbett’s chief as deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center.
“When you recognize that someone has special qualities, you need to do things that can keep those other things out of the way and avoid some of the contempt that often happens not only to minority people, but to women,” said Graham.
Historically, this prejudice affects not only professionals in the field, but also those they serve. In 1931, scientists conducted the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, a study by the Public Health Service and the Tuskegee Institute. He examined the progression of syphilis, allowing infected blacks to remain untreated, regardless of the suffering it caused.
Another frequently cited example is the removal of special cells from Henretta Lacks, a cancer patient from Baltimore, Maryland. In 1951, a Johns Hopkins University research team removed cells from Lacks without his permission and used them in billions of dollars worth of medical research. Lacks died of cancer and his family was never compensated.
“There are many other examples of supposedly objective scientists who cared about everyone, who valued people of color less … It’s a painful truth,” said Hrabowski.
Corbett’s understanding of socio-cultural issues and his knowledge of science made him an influential person in the scientific community.
At a time when skepticism about the vaccine is high among African Americans, Corbett hopes blacks will have faith in the vaccine and the scientists working behind the scenes to bring it to the American people.
“Number one is that I get it. And number two is really enjoying the level of transparency that we’re trying to … even though I’ve never seen it before, how FDA hearings and briefings being broadcast online and data coming out almost instantly, “she said.
As for Dr. Hrabowski, he believes that Corbett deserves all the visibility she can get.
“She cannot be a hidden figure,” he said. “She needs to be in textbooks. Girls need to see her – of all races. That’s what is possible.”