Editorial Staff

Conquering COVID-19: When and From Where Will Vaccines and Therapies Emerge?

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This week on Hubwonk, Host Joe Selvaggi is joined by Pioneer’s Bill Smith, Visiting Fellow in Life Sciences, and Dr. Peter Kolchinsky, Harvard-trained virologist, biotech investor and author of the new book, The Great American Drug Deal, to learn how the SARS-CoV2 works, what a vaccine may look like, and how we might produce it to scale.

 

Guest:

Peter Kolchinsky, Ph.D. is a biotechnology investor and a scientist. He co-founded and runs the Boston-based investment firm RA Capital Management; writes and teaches about biomedical entrepreneurship and its potential to transform global health; serves on the boards of several public and private drug development companies; and lives in Massachusetts with his historian/equestrian wife, strong-willed children, and reasonably well-trained dog.

In addition to The Great American Drug Deal, he is the author of The Entrepreneur’s Guide to a Biotech Startup. Peter served on the Board of Global Science and Technology for the National Academy of Sciences and writes about the biotech social contract. He holds a BA from Cornell University and a PhD in Virology from Harvard University.

About the Guest Co-Host:

 Dr. William S. Smith is Pioneer’s Visiting Fellow in the Life Sciences. Dr. Smith has 25 years of experience in government and in corporate roles. His career includes senior staff positions for the Republican House leadership on Capitol Hill, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Massachusetts Governor’s office where he served under Governors Weld and Cellucci. He spent ten years at Pfizer Inc as Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy where he was responsible for Pfizer’s corporate strategies for the U.S. policy environment. He later served as a consultant to major pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. Dr. Smith earned his PhD in political science with distinction at The Catholic University of America.

About the Host:

Joe Selvaggi is the host of HubWonk. Joe is a US Navy veteran, entrepreneur, investment professional, former candidate for US Congress, and political commentator. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. He lives in Boston.

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