As COVID-19 continues to affect communities worldwide, MSIH Alumni are working hard on the frontlines in hospitals and clinics, as well as in public policy and research settings to mitigate the effects of the disease.
Dr. Colin Fields, class of 2010, is a sub-investigator on a Phase 1 clinical trial at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in Seattle, WA, evaluating an investigational vaccine for protecting against COVID-19.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a reminder about how much medicine improves the lives of all humans across the planet; nothing highlights this more than when it is abruptly taken away,” said Dr. Fields. “It is an example of how prevention of disease is key to social function.”
“I making whatever contribution I can to investigate a safe and effective vaccine that could save lives and restore the normal function of our institutions and public wellbeing.”
The study, funded by The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is an open-label trial that will enroll 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55. The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 after a strand of mRNA coding for the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Phase 1 clinical trial will administer two vaccinations at 25 mcg, 100 mcg, and 250 mcg to subjects in each cohort. The trial will last 16 months and subjects in the study will be followed for 14 months.
Previously, Dr. Fields worked at the KPWHRI’s Vaccine Treatment Unit in a pandemic preparedness trial for Avian influenza. He believes his past experiences at MSIH, and in Israel, have greatly prepared him for his medical career.
“I wanted medical school to be an adventure. When would I be able to live in Israel and the Middle East again?” Dr. Fields shared. He reflects fondly on his former classmates and remains grateful for the experiences he had in Israel which have led him to his current career in family medicine.
Dr. Fields is a family physician and medical director of the Gender Health Program at Kaiser Permanente, Washington. His practice includes care for adolescents, adults, LGBTQs and transgender youth, as well as HIV management.
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