10-24-2021 Women to Watch - Flipbook - Page 26
25 WOMEN TO WATCH
DR. KIZZMEKIA S.
CORBETT
ROBBIN LEE
35, assistant professor,
Department of Immunology
and Infectious Diseases,
Harvard
29, executive director of Baltimore
Homecoming Inc.
Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett is
credited with leading vaccine
research at the National Institutes of Health that is saving
millions of lives while thwarting
the spread of COVID-19. And she
got her higher academic start at
the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Moments like being named
to 2021 TIME100 Next feel surreal to Corbett.
“Being written in Time Magazine was great,” said Corbett,
who was instrumental in developing the Moderna COVID-19
vaccine. “It allowed me to come
up for air. It allowed me to say a
job well done to myself.”
Corbett knows there is more
work to be done. She calls it frusPHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY
trating to see so many AmeriAND INFECTIOUS DISEASES
cans choose not to take the vaccine.
“People are dying from this virus and the vaccine is very clearly lifesaving,” she said. “To
watch people not take it is sad. Keeping the conversation open, lending empathy to people having questions, and not giving up on people [are key.]”
She’s also interested in further breaking down racial and gender barriers.
“What’s important right now is changing everyone’s attitude of Black women. We can get to
the table, but if we are not heard, and respected, if our seat is lower, does it really matter? Everyone else has to understand why it is important that we are there.”
From a young age, Corbett realized the importance of using her voice. Being one of six children growing up in North Carolina, she recalled her parents encouraging her to speak up.
“We were able to talk to our parents without being babied. We were able to have real conversations about real life. Because I have so many siblings, if you weren’t loud, you weren’t heard,”
she recalled.
Her ascent through academia has been swift and notable. In 2008, she received a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she was a Meyerhoff
Scholar and NIH undergraduate scholar. At UMBC, Corbett felt supported, which further helped
to develop her math and science skills.
“[UMBC] allowed me to see how important diversity in the sciences is,” she said. “It gave this
family atmosphere. It helped make college easier. There was a support system embedded in the
college experience.”
She then received her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology in 2014 from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In June, Corbett joined the faculty at Harvard where she is an assistant professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases.
Next, Corbett said she wants to find a better equilibrium between work and home life, adding
that she has a new fiancé and also hopes to dedicate more time to community activism.
“My new normal is being a well-rounded scientist — a better scientist and better human.”
— John-John Williams IV
26
WO M E N T O WAT C H
l
2021
“This city’s greatest export is its people,” said Robbin Lee, who works to persuade successful former
Baltimoreans to give back — via philanthropy, investments and mentorships — to their onetime stomping
grounds.
In 4 1/2 years, Lee has helped corral nearly 800 accomplished “alumni,” from CEOs and politicians to actors (Lance Reddick) and athletes (basketball’s Angel
McCoughtry), and raised nearly $1 million to bolster
nonprofits, tech startups and minority-owned businesses.
“Their heartstrings are here,” Lee said of the growing network of Baltimore alums. “Our job is to tap into
that reservoir of good will because, where there are
relationships, there is forward momentum.”
— Mike Klingaman
PHOTO BY LLOYD FOX