Bennett also introduced narrative concepts, as noted by his great-granddaughter, Betsy Reese Grant, in The Bennett Story: Bennett also innovated in the way he printed pictures, building a revolving solar printing house that is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution. Now came the agonizing waiting game. Human Health. Bennett argued to go for the real vaccine. Multilateral Organizations. Agriculture & Environment. Usually partnerships between academic labs and pharma take months to negotiate. The next day, Bancel dialed into the meeting with the executive leaders, who were crowded around a conference table at Modernas headquarters with Bennett and the members of her team that had been tirelessly working on what up until that point essentially amounted to a demonstration project. Global Markets & Trade. David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images, FILE, Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE, New book busts myths, answers common questions about menopause. The potential implications of using mRNA as a drug are significant and far-reaching and could meaningfully improve how medicines are discovered, developed and manufactured. Shouldnt we talk about this? her husband asked when she told him that night that shed signed up. Competing Interest Statement Hamilton Bennett's research while affiliated with Moderna and other places Overview What is this page? The clock was officially ticking. Addressing Climate Change. Two days later, on March 2, Bancel flew to the nations capital and got into a car bound for the White House. Bennett loaded a boat with his photographic equipment and took many pictures of the Dells. Watch Best of BIO. In the midst of much uncertainty and chaos, Bennett, has emerged as one of the unsung heroes of the pandemic, working feverishly and tirelessly behind the scenes throughout the year to help engineer a vaccine that could potentially save millions of lives. Its going to be the 1918 flu pandemic. Since time was of the essence, Moderna decided to do all of the steps simultaneously. At that point, you've got to succeed.". Bennett described. During a meeting one morning, an engineer suggested that the virus doesnt take weekends, so we cant either. Weekends were officially canceled. "We'd set our timelines for phase 1, thinking, 'we could possibly start a phase 1 study in April,'" Bennett said. Bancel, of course, hopes that Modernas vaccine works, but he doesnt want to be alone in the winners circle. As he huddled next to the heater, he searched Google for international flights out of Wuhan. "I think what we've done is show the world that it's OK to be bold and to stand up and say, 'We can do this,'" said Bennett, adding that it will likely be months before she will be able to fully appreciate her team's hard work. Join BIO as we champion for bringing new treatments to patients with serious medical conditions and to support policies that promote innovation and improve patient access. Hamilton Bennett's colleagues are Aaron Frank, Abigail Longstaff, Adam Gilmore, Aida Skelic and more. When Haller arrived at the Kaiser building, she pulled into the garage and walked into the clinic, where she learned she would be the very first person in the world to receive the injection. Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images. Several days later, on a moonlit Friday night, Bancel wheeled his suitcase into Terminal D at Logan Airport and checked into a red-eye bound for Zurich. Bancel told him what hed learned about the virus and suggested that Moderna begin to build the vaccinefor real. Others were not convinced that the pandemic would last more than a few months and felt it would be more prudent to wait before moving forward, until there was proof the virus was indeed a threat. However, the decision that Moderna was confronted with in early January -- of whether to try to develop a vaccine against the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus -- was a risk, directing valuable resources toward a viral threat that we didn't yet know would blossom into a full-blown pandemic. Hamilton Bennett's business email address is h**@modernatx.com. Almost overnight, Bostons streets became eerily quiet as life as we knew it drifted further into a new normal. They agreed to convene the executive committee to discuss it straightaway. The day after Haller was dosed, CanSinoBio in China announced it had received approval for a Phase 1 trial. And if we don't do it, maybe no one else will," Bennett said, while recalling her reasoning at the time. "I think I emailed my team every six hours, Saturday, Sunday saying, 'Have you designed the vaccine sequence yet?'" Bancel knew he needed to reach out to Moderna cofounder Noubar Afeyan, the serial biotech entrepreneur who runs Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge and chairs Modernas board of directors. It was as if overnight, Moderna had been bumped up to the adults table and it was Christmas dinner. Moderna's phase 1 study had been initially expected to begin in late April, but acknowledging the urgency of the situation, Bennett's team pushed the timeline forward. It had taken only 25 days. Because mRNA vaccines are made on a computer and not from the viruses themselves, that was all they needed to begin. Later that evening, he was standing in his kitchen when his phone dinged again. Hamilton Bennett, Senior Director of Vaccine Access and Partnerships at Moderna, works on the company's COVID-19 vaccine from home. It was no longer just an interesting experiment on a clinical scale. [5] In addition, what if a vaccine wasnt needed? [2] Early life [ edit] On the radio, the news was wall-to-wall coronavirus. Stand up for innovation. "I think when every person in primarily the U.S, but also in our global space has access to a vaccine that's when I think I'm going to be able to breathe, say, 'OK, we've done it,'" she concluded. Related Tags: Information on keynote speaking engagements, personal appearances, corporate entertainment and appearance fees for Hamilton Bennett, an inspirational motivational speaker. Others were not convinced that the pandemic would last more than a few months and felt it would be more prudent to wait before moving forward, until there was proof the virus was indeed a threat. After Bennett created the new shutter, he was able to take clear pictures of moving subjects. See more of The World Libertarians Want on Facebook. Can you make any sense of the viral outbreak going on in China? Bancel pecked out on his tablet. Bennett had just entered the estimated 120-day timetable into her project-management software and advised the NIH of the schedule when manufacturing came back and said they could do it even faster. Moderna scientists had never tried to make a vaccine this quickly before, and there was risk of straining the platform and the team beyond their breaking points. But a vaccine based on mRNA had never been approved or authorized by the FDA before. Usually vaccines are made sequentially: You wait for lab tests to reveal that your vaccine candidate is working before you manufacture an animal-grade vaccine. Moderna and Dr. Barney Graham, deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH, had discussed executing a prototype project for a mRNA vaccine in 2020. He originated methods for trimming, printing, washing, and mounting pictures, and devised improvements for his cameras. That night, she ditched her vehicle near the office, called an Uber, and managed to hold it together the whole ride home. Here, we show that mRNA-1273 induces both potent neutralizing antibody and CD8 T cell responses and protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection in lungs and noses of mice without evidence of immunopathology. Normally, he would never take a call at a moment like that, but Bancel usually only communicated with him through textsunless, that is, the matter was urgent. "We'd set our timelines for phase 1, thinking, 'we could possibly start a phase 1 study in April,'" Bennett said. Moderna was perfectly poised to respond and had an obligation to do so, she said. Sure. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.This Moderna page is not the appropriate place to report adverse events (side-effects) for any products. Due to the low demand for portraits in the area, Bennett set his sights on landscape photography. It had left her stranded a few times since the project began (exactly how often was another metric that the consummate planner was tracking on her whiteboard). This is a great opportunity to go mano a mano with Moderna, he told a reporter from Science magazine. The team was able to quickly identify the spike protein and understand how to engineer and stabilize it to induce a strong immune response, and when Bennett's team and the researchers at the NIH saw they had designed the same sequence independently, they felt confident in their findings. The day CEPI announced it was funding Modernas Phase 1 trial, it also announced it would fund a University of Queensland lab and Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals. "Every cell in the body uses mRNA to provide real-time instructions to make the proteins necessary to drive all aspects of biology, includ Hamilton Bennett's role at Moderna is Senior Director, Vaccine Access and Partnerships. View Hamilton Bennett's email address: hxxxxxxxxxxxxxxt@modernatx.com & phone: +1-323-xxx-xx74's profile as Senior Director, Vaccine Access and Partnerships at Moderna, located in Malden, Massachusetts. They had already made history. As he spent time with two prominent infectious-disease experts from Europe, they were receiving a constant stream of information from their contacts on the ground in China, including Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. Soon after, the U.S. government announced it was funding Moderna with nearly half a billion dollars. Douty died in 1884 and Bennett married Evaline Marshall in 1890, with whom he had two more children. He didn't have to go far to find impressive scenery, for the Wisconsin River Dells, a gorge with numerous sandstone formations, was just outside Kilbourn City. He needs to just stop until we know whats going on. Hallers mother agreed, but it did little to alleviate Hallers sense of helplessness. They wanted to see how it would play out. It took 14 days, and there was no way to shave any time off that one. Multilateral Organizations. As soon as she saw the ad, it hit her: Maybe there was something she could do after all. Since then, Moderna's vaccine has been given to millions of people worldwide. "Every cell in the body uses mRNA to provide real-time instructions to make the proteins necessary to drive all aspects of biology, including in human health and disease.Given its essential role, we believe mRNA could be used to create a new category of medicines with significant potential to improve the lives of patients.We are pioneering a new class of medicines made of messenger RNA, or mRNA. Soon, other decisions were made in the name of speed. Bennett, a self-described "public-health nerd" with a master's degree in environmental microbiology, had sought a job at the company after hearing it was working on mRNA-based vaccines for new. Agriculture & Environment. It can take from 10 to 15 years to develop a new vaccine. Hamilton Bennett Senior Director, Vaccine Access and Partnerships at Moderna Malden, Massachusetts, United States 1K followers 500+ connections Join to view profile Moderna Activity Have you. Just about the last place he needs to be is in a fast-food restaurant in Kirkland, she told her mom. "Every day we just accelerated that timeline faster and faster. This sounds risky, one of them told her. Hamilton Bennett's email address is h**@modernatx.com. Before she knew it, they had halved the time to 60 days. It almost felt like the world around us was shifting, but for those of us on the program, our entire world was the program," Bennett said. Some said it would divert resources from thriving areas of research and reprioritize other lucrative programs, while betting on a yet unproven vaccine technology. After the outbreak of the American Civil War, Bennett joined the 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and fought in the Battle of Vicksburg before being severely wounded by the accidental discharge of his own gun. Just two months later, Moderna began its NIH-led phase 1 study. Bancel fixed himself a cup of black tea and took a seat at the counter to kick off his early-morning ritual with the Wall Street Journal. At Moderna, we believe messenger RNA, or mRNA, is the "software of life."Every cell in the body uses mRNA to provide real-time instructions to make the proteins necessary to drive all aspects of biology, including in human health and disease.Given its essential role, we believe mRNA could be used to create a new category of medicines with significant potential to improve the lives of patients . Lets get this started. "The world was looking at us because we had started the first study in the U.S. We had done it faster than anyone before had ever done it. This marked the first time the virus had spread on our home turf. At that point, you've got to succeed.". Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? International. The cat is out of the bag, he thought. On March 16, Haller woke up early, put on a tank top, threw a sweatshirt over it, and downed a scrambled egg that her husband had prepared. Traditional vaccines are made from a weakened, dead, or small piece of a pathogena virus or bacteriawhich prompts the body to fight off the invader and builds up immunity for when the real deal comes along. Before the meeting officially began, one of the presidents aides introduced Trump to Bancel, explaining that Moderna had the first vaccine ready for trial. Most important, using mRNA is a much faster way to make vaccines, which can normally take up to a decade to develop and test. This vaccine process needs to happen soon, she told herself. Moderna's senior director of vaccine access and partnerships at Moderna, is 35-year-old Hamilton Bennett. biotechnology: biological products (no diagnostic substances), Sr. Project Manager, Clinical Development, Senior Director, Facilities & Engineering | Global Project Lead, Find verified emails and direct dial mobile numbers of contacts on LinkedIn, and sync them with your CRM instantly, Senior Director, Vaccine Access and Partnerships. Once inside the cell, that piece of DNA codes for a specific piece of the pathogen that sparks the desired immune response. Bennett was no stranger to working at breakneck speed. Stand up for innovation. Realizing that the three-dimensional aspect of the rock formations would be lost in two-dimensional photographs, he began creating stereoscopic images that allowed viewers to see the Dells in three dimensions. She might not be on the frontline, but she at least wanted to be on the battlefield. News of the first U.S. death and the spread of the coronavirus in Seattle were also on Bancels mind, but for slightly different reasons. Bennett made all of his own equipment except for the glass lenses in his cameras. Learn about our mission, vision, values and priorities, Find out about BIO's programs & initiatives, Meet BIO's Senior Leadership and Board of Directors, Get to know the outstanding people and companies BIO supports. Bennett was widely . Moderna and Dr. Barney Graham, deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH, had discussed executing a prototype project for a mRNA vaccine in 2020. Although the emergence of COVID-19 was first publicly reported in late December 2019, there was still very little known about the viral outbreak. We are comfortable with that.. Moderna says its mRNA Access program could help with the next pandemic - Drug Discovery . Bancel, whod spent much of his career at companies that focused on infectious disease, raised his eyebrows. Facing down a pandemic the likes of which the world hadnt seen in a century, Bennett, senior director of vaccine access and partnerships at Moderna, was tasked with developing a COVID vaccine even before the viruss genome had been sequenced. Corbett's academic biography notes " the vaccine concept incorporatedin mRNA-1273 was designed by Dr. Corbett's NIH team from viral sequence and rapidly deployed to industry partner, Moderna, Inc." 19 According to Dr.Corbett, an earlier partnershipwith Moderna focused on the MERS coronavirus helped acceleratetheSARS- -2 response. Days later, once she found out shed been selected, several friends tried to dissuade her. By the weekend of January 25, just days after Moderna decided to go full steam ahead, he was convinced the world was going to need a vaccine for this virus. Unlike more traditional vaccines, which consist of weakened or inactivated forms of a virus, thus stimulating the body's immune response to create antibodies, a vaccine using mRNA sends a set of instructions into cells to teach them to make a protein, which will trigger an immune response inside our bodies to fight off the disease. After launching successful phase 2 and 3 trials, Moderna reported an efficacy rate of 94.1%. In January, with exponential growth in infection rates in the city of Wuhan, China, and increasing evidence of high community transmission, Moderna's leadership acknowledged that the outbreak was a serious threat and asked Bennett to begin working on a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as the new virus's genome sequence was obtained. They spent several hours on the phone that day, and by the time Monday rolled around they had agreed to join forces once again, capitalizing on Barouchs ability to design a vaccine and carry out preclinical work in the lab, and Janssens manufacturing capabilities and sheer muscle as a major pharma company. . "The world was looking at us because we had started the first study in the U.S. We had done it faster than anyone before had ever done it. Sign up for the Good Day BIO Newsletter >. Hamilton Bennett's Professional Contact Details, Hamilton Bennett's Current Company Details, Hamilton Bennett's Work History and Education, Frequently Asked Questions about Hamilton Bennett. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :-) In a decision that has been controversial in some corners of the scientific community, the FDA allowed Moderna, based on prior animal data, to try its vaccine on humans without complete animal trials. Hamilton maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science . He lunged for it. Title. Watch Best of BIO. On May 18, Moderna took a giant step forward and extended its margin, appearing on the front pages from New York to Hong Kong after announcing some of its study volunteers had tested positive for antibodies, with levels higher than people who actually had COVID-19. Like Moderna, both of these groups utilize novel platforms that can quickly make vaccines without using the virus itself. Terms & Conditions. When data from the first phases of Moderna's clinical trial revealed the vaccine candidate had generated a protective immune response, it was a "sigh of relief" from the team -- but there was "no time to appreciate it," Bennett said. Ultimately, he decided hed leave it to Anthony Faucis team at the NIH to determine what was bestthey were the pros, after all. Three days. In late April, Moderna was still at the front of the pack, planning on Phase 2 trials this summer and then Phase 3 trials in the fall. Hamilton Bennett, Senior Director of Vaccine Access & Partnerships: "Your body gets sort of the software it needs to make its own protein. Back at the plant the next day, the team prepared the vials for shipping. I was so focused on the program, and I would leave the office at 10 o'clock at night. It was 7 p.m. on a Friday, and the streets below in Kendall Square had already emptied out for the weekend when Graham asked Bennett if Moderna would be interested in using the new virus to test the companys accelerated vaccine-making capabilities. People lost their jobs, diagnoses soared, and the body count rose. Since early January, this Cambridge biotech has been chasing a vaccine and breaking records for speed. Barouch has been pursuing using another innovative platform called adenoviral vector vaccines, which use a common cold virus as a vector to shuttle a piece of DNA into a cell. To Bancel, meanwhile, the sheer act of debating whether to move forward struck him as absurd in light of what he was learning at Davos. Find contacts: direct phone number, email address, work experience. Since then, new evidence has emerged showing that Moderna did not name NIH scientists as co-inventors in three patent applications covering the composition of the spike protein sequence encoded by mRNA-1273. The victim was a resident of a long-term-care facility in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle that borders Kenmore, the town where Hallers mom and stepfather live. Can I call you right now?. On an industry conference call about emerging infectious diseases on January 29, Bennett listened in as representatives from major pharmaceutical companies hedged and dodged. On April 6, Inovio, the Pennsylvania company, announced it was approved to start its Phase 1 trial. That way, Graham mused, if ever there came a day when a new virus emerged that threatened global public health, Moderna and the NIH could know how long it would take them to respond. At another, they considered putting a Moderna employee on the truck to personally chaperone the vials to the NIH in Maryland. Pharma companies had gotten left holding the bag during other novel viral epidemics, investing heavily to develop vaccines only to watch as the disease fizzled out on its own. Our tools and initiatives on workforce development, diversity and inclusion are designed to advance a more globally competitive industry. Human Health. Previously, it took several minutes for a camera to take a picture, and any movement of the subject being photographed over this time caused the picture to become blurry. Yeah, Haller said. Her research and development experience and laser-like focus on COVID helped Moderna get its vaccine into early clinical trials within two monthsand receive FDA emergency use authorization by. The popularity of his photographs helped turn the city of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin into a tourist destination. Hamilton Bennett - BIO International Convention | BIO Speaker Hamilton Bennett ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, VACCINE ACCESS AND PARTNERSHIPS, MODERNA Speaking In 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Tuesday, June 6 Vaccine manufacturing in Africa: Challenges and opportunities The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for more geographic diversity in the production If they werent, their time, effort, and resources would be wasted, and theyd have to backtrack and start over. When will it be done?. Ave. to take the call. As he brainstormed options with Andressomeone Bancel affectionately calls as paranoid as he istheir solutions quickly spun out of hand. If ultimately proven successful in large-scale human trials, mRNA vaccines would herald nothing short of a revolution akin to the advent of the steam engine when it comes to preventing infectious disease. Antimicrobial Resistance. In the current and next generation of black scientists and entrepreneurs. The news sent Modernas stock price so high that Bancel became a billionaire overnight. Despite the risks, Bennett said she felt very strongly that it was the company's moral and social obligation to develop the vaccine and, thus, advocated to push the company to take the gamble. The site that the NIH had chosen for the trialthe only site it had selectedwas in Seattle. Will it be the first across the finish line? Bancel felt a 500-pound weight lift off his shoulders. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, VACCINE ACCESS AND PARTNERSHIPS, MODERNA THERAPEUTICS, INC Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Hamilton Bennett (she/her) is the Senior Director of Vaccine Access and Partnerships at Moderna, a company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. Senior Director, Vaccine Access and Partnerships, CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Bringing you daily news at the intersection of biotechnology, politics, patients & the planet. We don't have to grow a virus and then extract proteins from it, your body becomes its own little bio factory and creates the vaccine for you." A pharmacist gives Jennifer Haller, left, the first shot in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, Monday, March 16, 2020, at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. In other words, she was in a position to help, and felt compelled to do so. "Every day we just accelerated that timeline faster and faster. But a vaccine based on mRNA had never been approved or authorized by the FDA before. Clearly, this is coming, and it's coming to the states.'". Hamilton Bennett, the senior director of vaccine access and partnerships at Moderna, did not anticipate that her team's years of work would soon be thrust into the global spotlight when Moderna became the first American company to jump into the race to a coronavirus vaccine. The only way the world gets back to normal is with broad vaccination.. International. David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images, FILE. Bennett, who holds graduate degrees from University of Washington in Environmental Health and Microbiology, as well a certificate in Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has over 10 years of research experience and had spent the last four years as a researcher and leader on the company's vaccine portfolio. The message came from the director of quality control. She agreed that as soon as the new viruss sequence was publicly posted online, sometime in the coming days, her team would begin a dry run. Age. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of a global pandemic that has led to more than 2.8 million deaths worldwide. During dinner, the dings of incoming text messages punctuated his conversation. You know you dont have to do this.. Bringing you daily news at the intersection of biotechnology, politics, patients & the planet. [3][5] Following his death, Bennett's family took over the photography studio, remodeling it in 1917. Are you sure?, Yeah, her colleague said. At Moderna, we believe messenger RNA, or mRNA, is the "software of life. Chemicals sit inside a refrigerator at the Moderna Therapeutics Inc. lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Nov. 14, 2017. "We believe that our platform is going to make a difference, and we believe that we're uniquely capable of responding to this pandemic. If so, Modernas race for the vaccine would play out under a million-watt global spotlight. It was too soon, they said. Much of it wasnt even public and yet here they were, turning their phone screens toward Bancel for him to see. He didnt like the sound of it one bit, so he copied the story link and pasted it into an email directed at Barney Graham, deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health. In the meantime, he continued to innovate in the field of photography by inventing a stop action shutter which allowed him to take photographs of instantaneous events. Across the Charles in Boston, there was one scientist who thought Big Pharma should get on boardand he had a feeling he could make it happen. vaccine. The platforms potential seemed limitless. [2] Bennett made his first stereoscopic photo in 1868, and they soon became very popular, being sold in cities across the United States. But I also know that shit happens. So as upbeat as he felt about Modernas efforts to build a vaccine, he was gripped with fear every day of the manufacturing process that something would go wrong.
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