Katherine O’Brien Receives Young Investigator Award (web article)

Katherine O’Brien, MD, MPH, an associate professor in the Bloomberg School’s departments of International Health and Epidemiology, is the recipient of the inaugural Young Investigator Award from the Sabin Vaccine Institute (SVI). The award was established to honor young scientists who have demonstrated a commitment to the fight against preventable diseases. O’Brien received the award on May 6, 2008.

O’Brien, a pediatric infectious disease physician, was recognized for her research on the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Her work conducting clinical trials of the vaccine among Navajo and Apache populations has been credited with improving the lives of millions, according to SVI, a medical research and advocacy organization.

O’Brien continues to conduct vaccine trials with the Bloomberg School’s Center for American Indian Health for diseases prevalent in American Indian populations. She also serves as associate director for vaccine research strategy at GAVI’s PneumoADIP, which is working to accelerate the evaluation and access of pneumococcal vaccines.--Natalie Wood-Wright