Business People and Community

Biotechnology pioneer to address vaccine development challenges

William Haseltine will share insights during a virtual lecture hosted by the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School.
William Haseltine

William Haseltine, a former Harvard medical professor and virologist renowned for his pioneering work on cancer, HIV/AIDS, and genomics, will discuss the challenges of generating an effective COVID-19 vaccine in a webinar Wednesday, part of the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School Distinguished Leaders Lecture series.

A biomedical scientist who has brought new drugs and vaccines to the market, Haseltine is currently the chair and president of ACCESS Health International, a nonprofit think tank, advisory group, and implementation partner with a mission to improve access to high quality and affordable health care for people everywhere, regardless of age.

During his career, the biomedical scientist has founded more than a dozen biotechnology companies, including Human Genome Sciences, and has been interviewed and cited frequently in the media for his expertise regarding the difficulties and demands to bring an effective COVID-19 vaccine to market.

“If we do get a vaccine soon, it is likely to be only partially effective for the young and may not be effective at all for the old,” he wrote in a recent Los Angeles Times article. “And remember, a vaccine that is to be given to hundreds of millions, or even billions, of healthy people must be demonstrably safe before it is brought to market. That is a very tall order for any medication.”

A philanthropist and author, Haseltine serves on advisory boards for numerous international entities, from the Brookings Institution to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Visit https://events.attend.com/f/1383792153#/reg/0/ to register for the lecture on Wednesday, June 10, at 5 p.m.