Kayvon Modjarrad
Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad is the Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He is an infectious disease physician and vaccine scientist who has led efforts to develop, test, and advance vaccine candidates against multiple pathogens of universal significance, including HIV, RSV, Ebola, MERS-CoV, and Zika. Today, Dr. Modjarrad leads the United States Army's development of a vaccine against COVID-19 and co-leads all of WRAIR’s COVID-19 response efforts.
Kayvon Modjarrad Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch
Academic History
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Biology
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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Dr. Modjarrad is a member of the 2020 Annual Conference on Vaccinology Research planning committee.
- He is part of Operation Warp Speed, a government effort to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
- He was also one of fifteen people around the world selected to serve on the World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts for the COVID19 vaccines.
- He was the first to lead the NIH coronavirus vaccine program in 2012 and recently led the first-ever vaccine clinical trial in humans for another coronavirus—MERS-CoV, which was completed at WRAIR in 2018.
- He co-led the Army's efforts to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, developing and bringing a vaccine to clinical trials in just nine months.
- He also serves as the Deputy Editor in Chief for the Journal of the International AIDS Society.
- He began his training in biology at Duke University and then went on to obtain his MD, MPH, and Ph.D. through the NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program.
- He then went on to complete his Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Yale, Vanderbilt, and the NIH.
- He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts.