COVID-19: Vaccines and Looking Ahead
Dr. Lourdes P. Norman-McKay
The COVID-19 vaccine and the rollout were key initiatives in both campaigns during the 2020 presidential election. The race to a viable vaccine has made history. Not only has it culminated in the fastest trajectory of a vaccine from the research bench to the market, but we now have new strategies to inducing immunity. Join medical scientist, professor, and Pearson author, Dr. Lourdes Norman-McKay for a layman-friendly conversation on COVID-19 vaccines, how they work, and why they will likely forever change the way we vaccinate.
About the speaker
Dr. Lourdes P. Norman-McKay, Florida State College at Jacksonville
Dr. Lourdes Norman-McKay earned her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Her postdoctoral fellowship in microbiology and immunology focused on the role of viruses in cancer. She has been training allied health students at the associate, baccalaureate, and post baccalaureate levels for the past 17 years. She is currently a professor at Florida State College Jacksonville where she mainly teaches microbiology and anatomy and physiology, and where in 2016, her peers and students recognized her with the Outstanding Faculty Award.
Dr. Norman-McKay has extensive STEM program development experience that ranges from developing and launching a biomedical sciences baccalaureate program to serving as a curriculum designer and subject matter expert for the Florida Space Research Institute and Workforce Florida. Most recently, she was invited to serve in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs to promote STEM education innovation and women in STEM. Dr. Norman-McKay is also an active participant in the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) Microbiology in Nursing and Allied Health Task Force Committee; an associate editor for ASM’s Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education; and the author of Microbiology: Basic and Clinical Principles, a textbook used across the globe to teach tomorrow’s healthcare team — many of whom are now front-line workers in the current COVID-19 crisis.