This cache is part of an occasional series about Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The cache is not located at the posted coordinates.
For several decades, children learned of Jonas Salk who developed the first widely used polio vaccine. Perhaps moving forward, children will learn of Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett who was instrumental in developing the covid-19 vaccine. You’ve probably heard of the Institute’s Director, Anthony Fauci, who said, “Kizzy is an African American scientist who is right at the forefront of the development of the vaccine.”
Kizzy Corbett grew up in North Carolina, earned her Bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and sociology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and her PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently a research fellow and the scientific lead for the Coronavirus Vaccines & Immunopathogenesis Team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccine Research Center (VRC).
Answer these questions to get the coordinates to the cache.
The disease we refer to as covid is “coronavirus disease 2019” or COVID-19. It is caused by a virus whose full name is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus __ (SARS-CoV-__). Let A = the missing digit, __.
Kizzy Corbett is early in her career, making it all the more impressive that she has already made so many important scientific contributions. Let B = the tens digit of her birth year. Let C = the last digit in the year Kizzy Corbett graduated from college where she was a Meyerhoff Scholar (a program that mentors minorities and women in science)
Kizzy Corbett worked on a particular vaccine which was ultimately approved by the Food and Drug Administration for Emergency Use for COVID-19 in late 2020. Let D = the ordinal number representing the position that the vaccine was approved for emergency use for COVID-19 (ie, if it was the 5th vaccine the FDA approved for emergency use for COVID-19 D=5).
Clinical interventions such as drugs and vaccines, must go through a rigorous scientific process before they can be tested on humans and ultimately approved. The Preclinical work tests the intervention in non-human subjects to gather efficacy (the ability of the intervention to perform the specific task in ideal conditions), toxicity, and other information. Phase 1 begins to establish the appropriate dosing and involves 20-100 normal healthy volunteers. Phase 2 tests 100-300 people with a specific condition to assess efficacy and side effects, though the intervention is not presumed to have a therapeutic effect. Phase 3, which typically tests 300-3,000 people with a specific condition to assess the efficacy, effectiveness (the ability of the intervention to perform he specific task in “real world” conditions), and safety, is the first phase where the intervention is presumed to have a positive therapeutic effect. Phase 4 is the post-marketing surveillance. Let E = the phase number that the vaccine that Kizzy Corbett worked on began only 66 days after the virus sequence was released
As a research fellow, one Kizzy Corbett’s most important scientific contributions was to identify a simple way to make a “spike protein“ which she did in collaboration with others. It is this methodology that some of the early vaccines use: the mRNA vaccines give instructions for cells to make a harmless version of the spike protein that is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. The cells display the protein piece which leads the immune system to recognize that the protein doesn’t belong there and begin to build an immune response and make antibodies. Let F = the last digit of the year she joined the Coronavirus Vaccines & Immunopathogenesis Team at the NIH, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, VRC.
Kizzy Corbett studied human antibody response to dengue virus in Sri Lankan children, specifically how people produce antibodies in response to dengue fever and how the genetics of dengue fever impact the severity of a disease. Let G = the number of scholarly articles that Kizzy Corbett coauthored about dengue. Let H = the last digit of the year she entered graduate school and began this work.
Let I = the last digit in the year Kizzy Corbett did a summer internship in Gloria Viboud’s lab at SUNY Stony Book where she studied Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, a bacteria that can infect humans and other animals
Let J = the number of scholarly articles that Kizzy Corbett coauthored in 2016 about human coronavirus spike protein
The cache can be found at at N45 AB.CDE W122 FG.HIJ then add .005 to the north and 0.021 to the west for the new location (the geochecker won't be happy without these offsets). Please use natural camo to rehide the cache in the same place you found it after you sign the log. This cache complies with the geocaching policies for Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) properties. Please respect park hours when caching.
Septembetr 20, 2021: replaced the container with something that would be best classified as a micro. I didn’t change the size because I didn’t want to interfere with stats for the early finders.