Barney S. Graham, MD, PhD 

Education

POSTGRADUATE:
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Clinical Fellowship: Infectious Diseases
Chief Residencies: Nashville General Hospital & Vanderbilt University Hospital. 

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Residency: Resident, Internal Medicine

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Internship: Internal Medicine

GRADUATE:
Vanderbilt University
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

University of Kansas, School of Medicine
Degree: Doctor of Medicine

UNDERGRADUATE:
Rice University
Degree: Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Research Interests

Barney S. Graham is an infectious diseases physician and scientist. He has a BA from Rice University, MD from the University of Kansas, and PhD from Vanderbilt University. He retired as Deputy Director of the NIAID Vaccine Research Center in 2021 and is now Professor and Director of the David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine. He is an inventor of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies approved for human use to prevent or treat RSV, COVID-19, and Ebola. He has authored >550 scientific publications and is an elected member of the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Inventors. He is an inductee of the National Inventors Hall-of-Fame and has received multiple awards for the advancement of science. Time magazine recognized him as one of the world’s 100 most influential individuals and a Hero of the Year in 2021 and as one of the 100 most influential in health in 2024. 42nd Convocation Speaker for Morehouse School of Medicine

Clinical Interests

Vaccine Clinical Trials

Specialties

Infectious Diseases

Board Certification

• Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, 1983, #94606
• American Board of Infectious Diseases,1986, #94606

Publications

Original Research

• McLellan, J. S., Chen, M., Leung, S., Graepel, K. W., Du, X., Yang, Y., Zhou, T., Baxa, U., Yasuda, E., Beaumont, T., Kumar, A., Modjarrad, K., Zheng, Z., Zhao, M., Xia, N., Kwong, P. D., & Graham, B. S. (2013). Structure of RSV fusion glycoprotein trimer bound to a prefusion-specific neutralizing antibody. Science (New York, N.Y.), 340(6136), 1113–1117. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1234914

• McLellan, J. S., Chen, M., Joyce, M. G., Sastry, M., Stewart-Jones, G. B., Yang, Y., Zhang, B., Chen, L., Srivatsan, S., Zheng, A., Zhou, T., Graepel, K. W., Kumar, A., Moin, S., Boyington, J. C., Chuang, G. Y., Soto, C., Baxa, U., Bakker, A. Q., Spits, H., …, Graham, B. S., & Kwong, P. D. (2013). Structure-based design of a fusion glycoprotein vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus. Science (New York, N.Y.), 342(6158), 592–598. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1243283
• Graham, B. S., & Sullivan, N. J. (2018). Emerging viral diseases from a vaccinology perspective: preparing for the next pandemic. Nature immunology, 19(1), 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-017-0007-9
• Wrapp, D., Wang, N., Corbett, K. S., Goldsmith, J. A., Hsieh, C. L., Abiona, O., Graham, B. S., & McLellan, J. S. (2020). Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation. Science (New York, N.Y.), 367(6483), 1260–1263. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb2507
• Corbett, K. S., Edwards, D. K., Leist, S. R., Abiona, O. M., Boyoglu-Barnum, S., Gillespie, R. A., Himansu, S., Schäfer, A., Ziwawo, C. T., DiPiazza, A. T., Dinnon, K. H., Elbashir, S. M., Shaw, C. A., Woods, A., Fritch, E. J., Martinez, D. R., Bock, K. W., Minai, M., Nagata, B. M., Hutchinson, G. B., … Graham, B. S. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine design enabled by prototype pathogen preparedness. Nature, 586(7830), 567–571. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2622-0

• Boyoglu-Barnum S, Ellis D, Gillespie RA, Hutchinson GB, Park YJ, Moin SM, Acton OJ, Ravichandran R, Murphy M, Pettie D, Matheson N, Carter L, Creanga A, Watson MJ, Kephart S, Ataca S, Vaile JR, Ueda G, Crank MC, Stewart L, Lee KK, Guttman M, Baker D, Mascola JR, Veesler D, Graham BS, King NP, Kanekiyo M. Quadrivalent influenza nanoparticle vaccines induce broad protection. Nature 2021 Mar 24; doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03365-x.
• Corbett KS, Edwards DK, Leist SR, Abiona OM, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Gillespie RA, Himansu S, Schäfer A, Ziwawo CT, DiPiazza AT, Dinnon KH, Elbashir SM, Shaw CA, Woods A, Fritch EJ, Martinez DR, Bock KW, Minai M, Nagata BM, Hutchinson GB, Wu K, Henry C, Bahi K, Garcia-Dominguez D, Ma L, Renzi I, Kong WP, Schmidt SD, Wang L, Zhang Y, Phung E, Chang LA, Loomis RJ, Altaras NE, Narayanan E, Metkar M, Presnyak V, Liu C, Louder MK, Shi W, Leung K, Yang ES, West A, Gully KL, Stevens LJ, Wang N, Wrapp D, Doria-Rose NA, Stewart-Jones G, Bennett H, Alvarado GS, Nason MC, Ruckwardt TJ, McLellan JS, Denison MR, Chappell JD, Moore IN, Morabito KM, Mascola JR, Baric RS, Carfi A, Graham BS. SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine design enabled by prototype pathogen preparedness. Nature 2020 Aug 5; doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2622-0.
• Corbett KS, Flynn B, Foulds KE, Francica JR, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Werner AP, Flach B, O'Connell S, Bock KW, Minai M, Nagata BM, Andersen H, Martinez DR, Noe AT, Douek N, Donaldson MM, Nji NN, Alvarado GS, Edwards DK, Flebbe DR, Lamb E, Doria-Rose NA, Lin BC, Louder MK, O'Dell S, Schmidt SD, Phung E, Chang LA, Yap C, Todd JM, Pessaint L, Van Ry A, Browne S, Greenhouse J, Putman-Taylor T, Strasbaugh A, Campbell TA, Cook A, Dodson A, Steingrebe K, Shi W, Zhang Y, Abiona OM, Wang L, Pegu A, Yang ES, Leung K, Zhou T, Teng IT, Widge A, Gordon I, Novik L, Gillespie RA, Loomis RJ, Moliva JI, Stewart-Jones G, Himansu S, Kong WP, Nason MC, Morabito KM, Ruckwardt TJ, Ledgerwood JE, Gaudinski MR, Kwong PD, Mascola JR, Carfi A, Lewis MG, Baric RS, McDermott A, Moore IN, Sullivan NJ, Roederer M, Seder RA, Graham BS. Evaluation of the mRNA-1273 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates. New England Journal Medicine 2020 Jul 28; doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2024671.
• Jackson LA, Anderson EJ, Rouphael NG, Roberts PC, Makhene M, Coler RN, McCullough MP, Chappell JD, Denison MR, Stevens LJ, Pruijssers AJ, McDermott A, Flach B, Doria-Rose NA, Corbett KS, Morabito KM, O'Dell S, Schmidt SD, Swanson PA 2nd, Padilla M, Mascola JR, Neuzil KM, Bennett H, Sun W, Peters E, Makowski M, Albert J, Cross K, Buchanan W, Pikaart-Tautges R, Ledgerwood JE, Graham BS, Beigel JH; mRNA-1273 Study Group. An mRNA Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 - Preliminary Report. New England Journal of Medicine 2020 Jul 14; NEJMoa2022483. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2022483.
• Wrapp D, Wang N, Corbett KS, Goldsmith JA, Hsieh CL, Abiona O, Graham BS, McLellan JS. Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation. Science 2020 Feb 19:eabb2507. doi: 10.1126/science.abb2507.
• Kanekiyo M, Joyce MG, Gillespie RA, Gallagher JR, Andrews SF, Yassine HM, Wheatley AK, Fisher BE, Ambrozak DR, Creanga A, Leung K, Yang ES, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Georgiev IS, Tsybovsky Y, Prabhakaran MS, Andersen H, Kong WP, Baxa U, Zephir KL, Ledgerwood JE, Koup RA, Kwong PD, Harris AK, McDermott AB, Mascola JR, Graham BS. Mosaic nanoparticle display of diverse influenza virus hemagglutinins elicits broad B cell responses. Nature Immunology 2019 Mar; 20(3):362-372. doi: 10.1038/s41590-018-0305-x.
• Crank MC, Ruckwardt TJ, Chen M, Morabito KM, Phung E, Costner PJ, Holman LA, Hickman SP, Berkowitz NM, Gordon IJ, Yamshchikov GV, Gaudinski MR, Kumar A, Chang LA, Moin SM, Hill JP, DiPiazza AT, Schwartz RM, Kueltzo L, Cooper JW, Chen P, Stein JA, Carlton K, Gall JG, Nason MC, Kwong PD, Chen GL, Mascola JR, McLellan JS, Ledgerwood JE, Graham BS, and the VRC 317 Study Team. A proof-of-concept for structure-based vaccine design targeting RSV in humans. Science 2019 Aug 2; 365(6452):505-509. doi: 10.1126/science.aav9033.
• Pallesen J, Wang N, Corbett KS, Wrapp D, Kirchdoerfer RN, Turner HL, Cottrell CA, Becker MM, Wang L, Shi W, Kong WP, Andres EL, Kettenbach AN, Denison MR, Chappell JD, Graham BS, Ward AB, McLellan JS. Immunogenicity and structures of a rationally designed prefusion MERS-CoV spike antigen. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2017 Aug 14. pii: 201707304. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1707304114.
• Dowd KA, Ko SY, Morabito KM, Yang ES, Pelc RS, DeMaso CR, Castilho LR, Abbink P, Boyd M, Nityanandam R, Gordon DN, Gallagher J, Chen XJ, Todd JP, Tsybovsky Y, Harris A, Huang YS, Higgs S, Vanlandingham DL, Andersen H, Lewis MG, De La Barrera R, Eckels KH, Jarman RG, Nason MC, Barouch DH, Roederer M, Kong WP, Mascola JR, Pierson TC, Graham BS. Rapid development of a DNA vaccine for Zika virus. Science 2016; 354(6309):237-240. doi:10.1126/science.aai3197.
• Kirchdoerfer RN, Cottrell CA, Wang N, Pallesen J, Yassine HM, Turner HL, Corbett KS, Graham BS, McLellan JS, Ward AB. Prefusion structure of a human coronavirus spike protein. Nature 2016 Mar 3; 531(7592):118-21. doi: 10.1038/nature17200.
• Ngwuta JO, Chen M, Modjarrad K, Joyce MG, Kanekiyo M, Kumar A, Yassine HM, Moin SM, Killikelly AM, Chuang GY, Druz A, Georgiev IS, Rundlet EJ, Sastry M, Stewart-Jones GBE, Yang Y, Zhang B, Nason MC, Capella C, Peeples ME, Ledgerwood JE, McLellan JS, Kwong PD, Graham BS. Prefusion F-specific antibodies determine the magnitude of RSV neutralizing activity in human sera. Science Translational Medicine 2015 Oct 14; 7(309):309ra162. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aac4241.
• Yassine HM, Boyington JC, McTamney PM, Wei CJ, Kanekiyo M, Kong WP, Gallagher JR, Wang LS, Zhang Y, Joyce MG, Lingwood D, Moin SM, Andersen H, Okuno Y, Rao SS, Harris AK, Kwong PD, Mascola JR, Nabel GJ, Graham BS. Hemagglutinin stem nanoparticle generates heterosubtypic influenza protection. Nature Medicine 2015 Sep; 21(9):1065-1070. doi: 10.1038/nm.3927.
• McLellan JS, Chen M, Joyce MG, Sastry M, Stewart-Jones G, Yang YP, Zhang B, Chen L, Srivatsan S, Zheng A, Zhou T, Graepel KW, Kumar A, Moin S, Boyington JC, Chuang GW, Soto C, Baxa U, Bakker AQ, Spits H, Beaumont T, Zheng ZZ, Xia NS, Ko SY, Todd JP, Rao S, Graham BS, Kwong PD. Structure-based design of a fusion glycoprotein vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus. Science 2013; 342:592-598. doi: 10.1126/science.1243283
• McLellan JS, Chen M, Leung S, Graepel KW, Du X, Yang Y, Zhou T, Baxa U, Yasuda E, Beaumont T, Kumar A, Modjarrad K, Zheng Z, Zhao M, Xia N, Kwong PD, Graham BS. Structure of RSV fusion glycoprotein trimer bound to a prefusion-specific neutralizing antibody. Science 2013; 340:1113-1117.
• Graham BS, Henderson GS, Tang YW, Lu X, Neuzil KM, Colley DG. Priming immunization determines cytokine mRNA expression patterns in lungs of mice challenged with respiratory syncytial virus. Journal of Immunology 1993; 151:2032-2040.

Commentaries or Reviews

• Graham BS. The Journey to RSV Vaccines - Heralding an Era of Structure-Based Design. New England Journal of Medicine 2023 Feb 16; 388(7):579-581. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2216358.
• Graham BS. Rapid COVID-19 vaccine development. Science 2020 May 8; eabb8923. doi: 10.1126/science.abb8923.
• Graham BS, Corbett KS. Prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness: World on fire. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2020 Apr 30:139601. doi: 10.1172/JCI139601.
• Graham BS, Gilman MSA, McLellan JS. Structure-based vaccine antigen design. Annual Review of Medicine 2019 Jan 27; 70:91-104. doi: 10.1146/annurev-med-121217-094234.
• Graham BS, Sullivan NJ. Emerging viral diseases from a vaccinology perspective: Preparing for the next pandemic. Nature Immunology 2018 Jan;19(1):20-28. doi: 10.1038/s41590-017-0007-9. Epub 2017 Dec 14.

CLICK HERE to view full list of publications.

Honors and Awards

Professional Memberships and Honors 

2025 – National Academy of Inventors
2025 – National Academy of Medicine
2025 – National Inventors Hall of Fame
2022 – National Academy of Sciences
2002 – Association of American Physicians (AAP)
1998 – Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology
1997 – Vanderbilt Chapter of Sigma Xi, Honorary Research Society
1996 – American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)
1993 – Southern Society for Clinical Investigation
1991 – Fellow in the Infectious Diseases Society of America
1989 – Fellow in the American College of Physicians

Alumni Awards

2022 – Distinguished Alumni Award from the Association of Rice University Alumni

2021 – Vanderbilt University Distinguished Alumni Award

2017 – Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award – University of Kansas School of Medicine

Honorary Degrees

2024 – Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) from Columbia University

2023 – Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) from Albany Medical College

2022 – Honorary Doctorate Degree and Medal from Ghent University, Belgium

2021 – Honorary Doctorate (DSc) from the University of Kansas

Awards and Recognition

2025 – Building the Foundation Award from Research! America for basic research leading to outstanding achievements in public health (with Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire)

2025 – Honored with a musical letter of gratitude, “The Neutralizer,” composed by Alexa Tarrantino and performed by the Wynton Marsalis Jazz Orchestra as part of the Wave the Wheat Suite dedicated to 15 Kansas icons. Lied Center, University of Kansas campus in Lawrence.

2024 – Stanley A. Plotkin Lecture in Vaccinology Award for outstanding contributions to infectious diseases through immunization

2024 – STAT 2024 Status List & Biomedical Innovation Award

2024 – TIME100 Most Influential People in Health

2024 – IVI-SK Bioscience Park MahnHoon Award for exceptional contributions in the field of vaccines

2023 – Morehouse School of Medicine David Satcher Award for efforts to advance equity in research

2023 – Morehouse School of Medicine Hugh M. Gloster Society Health Equity IMPACT Award for Excellence in Science and Innovation

2022 – Gordon Wilson Medal from the American Clinical and Climatologic Association

2022 – Celebration of Heroes Honoree – Anaheim, CA (hummingbird theme)

2022 – Patents for Humanity Award from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for U.S. Patent No. 10,960,070 B2, Graham et al., “Prefusion Coronavirus Spike Proteins and Their Use,” March 30, 2021 (originally filed October 25, 2016)

2022 – Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Achievement from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases

2022 – John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences

2021 – Fred L. Soper Award from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

2021 – Project C.U.R.E. Founders’ Award for contributions to COVID-19 vaccines

2021 – Honored by the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas Legislature for contributions to the development of COVID-19 vaccines (87(2) HR 159)

2021 – Special Recognition by the Washington Psychiatric Society

2021 – New York Stem Cell Foundation Stem Cell Heroes Award

2021 – Featured with Dr. Corbett in the Smithsonian FUTURES exhibit describing COVID-19 vaccine development in the Arts + Industries Building and celebrating the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary, Washington, DC (through July 6, 2022). https://aib.si.edu/w07/

2021 – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Dean’s Medal

2021 – TIME Magazine Hero of the Year

2021 – New York Academy of Medicine John Stearns Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Clinical Practice, awarded for lifetime achievement in medicine

2021 – Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies), finalist nominated for rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine; named Federal Employee of the Year

2021 – Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research

2021 – TIME Magazine TIME100 List of the 100 Most Influential People in the World

2021 – Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award from the Sabin Vaccine Institute for exemplary contributions in vaccinology and disease prevention

2021 – Dr. Charles Mérieux Award for Achievement in Vaccinology and Immunology from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases

2020 – Golden Goose COVID-19 Recognition Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

2019 – Recipient of the first “Barney Graham Award,” established by the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Network (ReSViNET) Foundation based in the Netherlands, presented in Accra, Ghana at the RSVVW’19 meeting.

Subsequent Barney Graham Award recipients:

• 2026 – Padmini Srikantiah, MD, MPH, Deputy Director, Pneumonia, Lead for RSV Program, Gates Foundation
• 2024 – Heather Zar, MD, PhD, Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and Director of the School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• 2023 – Jason S. McLellan, PhD, Professor of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin
• 2021 – Harish Nair, MBBS, PhD, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Global Health, University of Edinburgh

2018 – Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies), finalist in the Innovation category for rapid development of a Zika virus vaccine

2014 – Robert M. Chanock Memorial Lecture and Award for lifetime contributions to RSV research, 9th International RSV Symposium (RSV 2014), Cape Town, South Africa