Kathryn V. Holmes: A Career of Contributions to the Coronavirus Field
Aurelio Bonavia,
Samuel R. Dominguez,
Gabriela Dveksler,
Sara Gagneten,
Megan Howard,
Scott Jeffers,
Zhaohui Qian,
Mary Kathryn Smith,
Larissa B. Thackray,
Dina B. Tresnan,
David E. Wentworth,
David R. Wessner,
Richard K. Williams,
Tanya A. Miura
Affiliations
Aurelio Bonavia
Vaccine Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Samuel R. Dominguez
Department of Pediatrics-Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Gabriela Dveksler
Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Sara Gagneten
Division of Viral Products, Office of Vaccines Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
Megan Howard
Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH 43201, USA
Scott Jeffers
GenSight Biologics, 75012 Paris, France
Zhaohui Qian
Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100050, China
Mary Kathryn Smith
General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, VA 22030, USA
Larissa B. Thackray
Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
Dina B. Tresnan
Safety Surveillance and Risk Management, Worldwide Safety, Pfizer, Groton, CT 06340, USA
David E. Wentworth
COVID-19 Emergency Response, Virology Surveillance and Diagnosis Branch, Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30329-4027, USA
David R. Wessner
Departments of Biology and Public Health, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035, USA
Richard K. Williams
NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
Tanya A. Miura
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
Over the past two years, scientific research has moved at an unprecedented rate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid development of effective vaccines and therapeutics would not have been possible without extensive background knowledge on coronaviruses developed over decades by researchers, including Kathryn (Kay) Holmes. Kay’s research team discovered the first coronavirus receptors for mouse hepatitis virus and human coronavirus 229E and contributed a wealth of information on coronaviral spike glycoproteins and receptor interactions that are critical determinants of host and tissue specificity. She collaborated with several research laboratories to contribute knowledge in additional areas, including coronaviral pathogenesis, epidemiology, and evolution. Throughout her career, Kay was an extremely dedicated and thoughtful mentor to numerous graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. This article provides a review of her contributions to the coronavirus field and her exemplary mentoring.
