From Farm Boy to COVID-19 Vaccine Pioneer: The Life and Work of Dr. Barney Graham

In the 2000s, Dr. Barney Graham, a virologist at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Vaccine Research Center, developed a lifelong interest in problem-solving during his childhood in Kansas. Spending his early days on the family farm, he was always eager to figure things out. His focus in the lab turned to figuring out how respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects cells. RSV is a virus that sends millions of babies to the hospital each year with severe respiratory disease, and until recently, there was no effective vaccine against it.

Graham identified a specific form that RSV takes just before infecting cells as the perfect target for the immune system. He worked tirelessly to stabilize this form of the virus, hoping to create a vaccine against it. However, before he could test his vaccine, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Undeterred, Graham pivoted his research to focus on SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. This decision led to the development of the first mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, created in record time.

As a senior advisor for global health equity and a professor of medicine and microbiology, biochemistry, and immunology at Morehouse School of Medicine, Graham continues to make strides in vaccine research. In 2023, he also developed the first vaccine against RSV, building on his previous research. Other researchers are now using his insights to develop vaccines for various viruses, including human metapneumovirus, which also causes respiratory illness. Thanks to Graham’s dedication and ingenuity