The UAB Department of Microbiology will welcome Barney Graham, M.D., as its keynote speaker for the 37th Bertram M. Marx Endowed Lecture on Monday, April 28, 2025, at 3 p.m. in Cudworth 102. He will present, “RSV and a New Era of Vaccinology.”
Graham, a world-renowned clinical trials physician, immunologist, and virologist, spent more than 20 years as an investigator at the Vaccine Research Institute (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. His research has been critical in the development of vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19, RSV, influenza, HIV, and more. He joined the Morehouse School of Medicine faculty in May 2022 as a professor of Medicine and Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Immunology at Morehouse School of Medicine, where he is the founding director of the David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute.
“Dr. Barney Graham's contributions have had a profound impact on public health, saving countless lives and advancing the field of vaccinology,” said J. Victor Garcia-Martinez, Ph.D., professor and Charles H. McCauley Endowed Chair in the Department of Microbiology. “Dr. Graham's work has not only advanced scientific knowledge but has also had tangible, life-saving effects on global health. His contributions continue to shape the future of vaccinology and pandemic preparedness. His work on the stabilization of the spike protein was crucial in the rapid development of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19. His research enabled the creation of vaccines that were not only effective but also developed in record time. More recently, his innovative research approach to structure-based vaccine design, particularly the prefusion F protein, on RSV led to the development of the first vaccines for this virus.”
The Bertram M. Marx Lectureship was established in 1985 by Edgar and Margot Marx in memory of Edgar’s father, Bertram M. Marx, in an effort to support cancer research at UAB. Prior to their establishment of the Marx Lectureship, Edgar and Margot began an endowment to support the Bertram M. Marx Graduate Student Research Grants Program, which has been active since 1982. Thanks to the program, two students interested in cancer research are selected each year by the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB to receive these awards.
The Bertram M. Marx Lectureship has brought an impressive roster of scientists to speak at UAB, including Nobel Laureates J. Michael Bishop, M.D. (1985), Max Ferdinand Perutz, Ph.D. (1990), Susumu Tonegawa, Ph.D. (1991), Tasuku Honjo, Ph.D. (1993), Peter Doherty, Ph.D. (2003), Max Cooper, M.D. (2024) as well as several members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.