Dr. Karen Kashmanian Oates is a Professor of Biochemistry and the Dean of Arts & Sciences
at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Oates received her B.S. in Biology from Rochester
Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The George Washington University.
She then served as a Visiting Research Fellow at the National Institutes of Health,
Oncology and Hematology division. Dr. Oates joined WPI from the National Science Foundation,
where she had served as a deputy director of the Division of Undergraduate Education
charged with supporting innovative programs to strengthen undergraduate education
and help revitalize American entrepreneurship and competitiveness. She began her academic
career at George Mason University, where, as associate dean for the new College of
Integrated and Interdisciplinary Studies, she helped create George Mason's New American
College environment. She later served as inaugural provost for the Harrisburg University
of Science and Technology, where she established the National Center for Science and
Civic Engagement and helped secure NSF funds for Science Education for New Civic Engagement
and Responsibilities, which works to improve undergraduate STEM education by connecting
learning to critical civic questions. Among the honors she has received are the Bruce
Albert's Award, presented by American Society for Cell Biology for excellence in science
education reform, and the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest civilian
honor presented by the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2012 she was inducted
as a fellow into the prestigious American Association for the Advancement as a Science
Education fellow. As the inaugural holder of the Peterson Family Deanship of Arts
& Sciences, she oversees seven academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Mathematics, Computer Science, Humanities & Arts and Social Sciences & Policy Studies),
as well as several interdisciplinary programs including Environmental and Sustainability
studies, Robotics and Interactive Media and Game Development. - See more at: https://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/lectureships/2016-2017-lecturers#sthash.GHjR2PZt.dpuf
Dr. Karen Kashmanian Oates is a Professor of Biochemistry and the Dean of Arts & Sciences
at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Oates received her B.S. in Biology from Rochester
Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The George Washington University.
She then served as a Visiting Research Fellow at the National Institutes of Health,
Oncology and Hematology division. Dr. Oates joined WPI from the National Science Foundation,
where she had served as a deputy director of the Division of Undergraduate Education
charged with supporting innovative programs to strengthen undergraduate education
and help revitalize American entrepreneurship and competitiveness. She began her academic
career at George Mason University, where, as associate dean for the new College of
Integrated and Interdisciplinary Studies, she helped create George Mason's New American
College environment. She later served as inaugural provost for the Harrisburg University
of Science and Technology, where she established the National Center for Science and
Civic Engagement and helped secure NSF funds for Science Education for New Civic Engagement
and Responsibilities, which works to improve undergraduate STEM education by connecting
learning to critical civic questions. Among the honors she has received are the Bruce
Albert's Award, presented by American Society for Cell Biology for excellence in science
education reform, and the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest civilian
honor presented by the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2012 she was inducted
as a fellow into the prestigious American Association for the Advancement as a Science
Education fellow. As the inaugural holder of the Peterson Family Deanship of Arts
& Sciences, she oversees seven academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Mathematics, Computer Science, Humanities & Arts and Social Sciences & Policy Studies),
as well as several interdisciplinary programs including Environmental and Sustainability
studies, Robotics and Interactive Media and Game Development. - See more at: https://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/lectureships/2016-2017-lecturers#sthash.GHjR2PZt.dpuf
Presentation Description
A review and discussion of key events in COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment
Biography
Ruth Karron, M.D., is a Professor of International Health in the Bloomberg School
of Public Health with a joint appointment in the Department of Pediatrics in the School
of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Karron is a pediatric infectious diseases
physician, virologist, and vaccinologist, and is Director of the Center for Immunization
Research and the Johns Hopkins Vaccine Initiative. Dr. Karron has substantial experience
in the evaluation of respiratory virus vaccines in adult and pediatric populations.
Dr. Karron’s research interests also include the development of immune responses
to respiratory viral infections in early life, the epidemiology of RSV and other respiratory
viral diseases in low resource settings, and public policy and ethical issues related
to vaccine development and distribution. She co-led the Pregnancy Research Ethics
for Vaccines, Epidemics, and New Technologies (PREVENT) Working Group, which released
“Pregnant Woman & Vaccines Against Emerging Epidemic Threats: Ethics Guidance for
Preparedness, Research and Response”, a guidance document with specific actionable recommendations to ensure that pregnant
women are no longer excluded from receiving vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.
Dr. Karron has served on a number of national and international vaccine advisory committees
and panels, including the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP),
and the FDA Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), which
she chaired from 2006-2008. She is currently a member of the WHO Product Development
for Vaccines Advisory Committee (PDVAC), the Gavi Vaccine Innovation Prioritisation
Steering Committee (VIPS), the COVAX ACT-acclerator COVID vaccine Maternal Immunization
Working Group, and chaired the Vaccines Advisory Panel for the Wellcome Trust. In
2016, Dr. Karron received the Robert M. Chanock award for outstanding contributions
to RSV research.
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