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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: January 19, 2021 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4-b <br /> SUBJECT: Proclamation Honoring Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett <br /> DEPARTMENT: County Commissioners <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Proclamation Commissioner Renee Price, 919-245- <br /> 2130 <br /> Greg Wilder, 919-245-2300 <br /> PURPOSE: To consider a proclamation honoring Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett for her role in the <br /> development of a vaccine to address the COVID-19 pandemic. <br /> BACKGROUND: Kizzmekia S. Corbett, PhD, is currently a research fellow in the Viral <br /> Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health [NIH], National Institute of Allergy <br /> and Infectious Diseases [NIAID], Vaccine Research Center. <br /> Dr. Corbett grew up in the Cedar Grove community of Orange County, North Carolina, and <br /> attended Orange County Schools during which time she spent two summers in the Project SEED <br /> Summer Intern program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. <br /> After receiving her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, with a secondary major in <br /> Sociology, in 2008 from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Dr. Corbett earned her <br /> Doctorate of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at <br /> Chapel Hill in 2014. <br /> Dr. Corbett was subsequently appointed to the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory in 2014, and has <br /> focused her work on developing novel coronavirus vaccines, including mRNA-1273, which has <br /> become a primary vaccine against the virus that causes COVID-19. <br /> in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Corbett and her team designed the vaccine concept <br /> incorporated in mRNA-1273 from viral sequence and rapidly deployed to Moderna, Inc., for FDA- <br /> approved Phase 1 clinical trial, which began only 66 days from the viral sequence release, and <br /> was shown to be 94.1% effective in Phase 3 trial and received Emergency Use Authorization from <br /> the FDA. <br /> FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration of the <br /> proclamation. <br />