As chief scientific officer at Moderna, Melissa J. Moore is making medicines from messenger RNA, including the COVID vaccines that are saving millions of lives.
Why you should listen
Melissa J. Moore has spent decades researching mRNA, mainly working to extend fundamental knowledge around how it is created, used — and destroyed — in mammalian cells. After many years as an academic researcher, she joined Moderna as its chief scientific officer in 2016. Since then, she has overseen research on mRNA engineering and delivery mechanisms; work from her team has proven foundational to the rapid production of Moderna's highly effective mRNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2.
Moore is passionate about what she sees as the coming age of nucleic acid medicines. And she works to increase diversity, belonging and inclusion at all levels of the biotechnology industry. She has earned numerous academic accolades, including a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigatorship and election to the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
