Meet Dr. Marylyn Addo, the German-born Ghanaian descent developing a vaccine for Coronavirus

Her father is a Ghanaian doctor while her mother, on the other hand, is from Germany.

She is a German virologist who is a Professor and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Head of Infectious Disease at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Dr. Addo has developed and tested vaccinations that protect people from Ebola virus disease and the MERS coronavirus EMC/2012.

She is currently developing a viral vector-based COVID-19 vaccine.

She is the daughter of a Ghanaian father and a German mother, and she was born in Troisdorf.

Her father is a physician. Addo studied medicine at the University of Bonn.

She earned her diploma at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, during which she researched Candida albicans transmission between HIV-positive people.

In 1999, she moved to Boston, where she specialised in infectious diseases at the Harvard Medical School.

When she was at Harvard University, Addo was made an Assistant Professor at the Ragon Institute and served as Associate Director of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research.

She investigated the role of Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) specific T cells as immune system regulators in patients with HIV-1.

In 2014, she was involved with the development of the preparation RVSV-EBOV, an experimental recombinant live vaccination that can be used against the Ebola virus disease.

Alongside the Ebola vaccination, Addo worked on a recombinant live vaccination to tackle the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) vaccination and her vaccination was supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

She is currently leading the project that is geared towards helping to find and organise funding for the deadly coronavirus disease.