January 05, 2021 | January Payne
UMSOM Researchers Led Phase 3 Trial of Moderna Vaccine
Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, the Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, Professor of Vaccinology and Director of the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM)’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD), received her first injection of the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 on December 31. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) played an integral part in the dedicated work that led to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issuing an Emergency Use Authorization for the Moderna vaccine in December.
Dr. Neuzil is a co-author of a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine that finds the Moderna vaccine has 94.1% efficacy in preventing illness from COVID-19, including severe disease. The study also found no safety concerns among those who were vaccinated, except for transient local and systemic reactions. Additionally, Dr. Neuzil currently serves as a member of the coronavirus vaccine working group for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and as the only U.S. member of the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization.
CVD researchers at UMSOM led a Phase 3 clinical trial of this vaccine, which was co-developed by scientists at Moderna Inc. and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The vaccine trial was the first to be implemented under Operation Warp Speed, a multi-agency collaboration led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which aims to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of medical countermeasures for COVID-19.
About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 45 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $563 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 student trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu
Contact
January Payne
Director of Public Relations
(443) 203-8183
january.payne@som.umaryland.edu
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