Kirsten E. Lyke, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine
Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health
School of Medicine
Dr. Lyke has built an impactful career advancing the leading edge of translational research in infectious diseases immunology and vaccinology. Her work and her leadership are consistently highlighted in leading scientific journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet as well as major national publications such as The New York Times and Rolling Stone.
Since joining the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOD) faculty in 2002, Lyke’s work has informed global vaccine and public health policy, particularly through her pioneering research in emerging infections and human challenge models.
Her expertise focuses on infectious diseases, in particular malaria and dengue vaccine and immunology. Her research program in emerging infectious diseases is robust and well-funded through federal, foundation, and industry support. She has developed and led innovative research programs with colleagues at the Institute for Genome Sciences and the Institute of Human Virology. She currently serves as director of the Vector-borne Diseases and Challenge Unit at the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) and interim co-director of CVD’s Malaria Research Program.
During the Ebola and Zika outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic, Lyke performed first-in-human studies on vaccines aimed at stopping the spread of these emerging threats. She co-led early phase studies on the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine and proposed as well as served as co-chair of the “Mix and Match” COVID-19 booster study funded by the National Institutes of Health. This study was pivotal in recommending adults and teens receive booster COVID-19 shots of their choosing starting in fall 2021.
Among her many accolades, Lyke received Best Scientific Publication of 2022-2023 honors from the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium, and The Daily Record named her a “Health Care Hero” in 2022 and an “Influential Marylander” in 2025. She was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in 2024.
Lyke earned a bachelor’s degree in biology/physiology/anatomy from Cornell University in 1988 and her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1992.
