Cynthia Lee directs the Portfolio Management and Translational Projects Unit (P&T), which is responsible for the management of all translational science projects within MVI.  She also chairs MVI’s Portfolio Management Committee, is Program Leader of MVI’s Next-Generation Vaccines Program, and is a member of the MVI Leadership Team.

Cynthia has more than 20 years of experience in the vaccine industry and brings to MVI her extensive experience in multiple aspects of vaccine development. Her breadth of experience includes taking several bacterial and viral vaccines from early-stage research through development and manufacturing to clinical testing and process validation. Prior to joining MVI, she served as Vice President of Vaccine and Drug Development at Xcellerex (now GE Healthcare), where she led efforts to develop an inactivated yellow fever vaccine. She previously held various positions at Acambis (now Sanofi), including Senior Director of Vaccine Research and Director of Clinical Research. While at Acambis, she served as project leader for multiple projects, including Vibrio cholera, Helicobacter pylori, herpes simplex virus, and Modified Vaccinia Ankara, and she was the Principal Investigator of several Small Business Innovation Research grants and biodefense contracts with the NIH. Prior to joining Acambis, she headed the bacterial genetics laboratory at the Massachusetts Biologics Laboratory, where she was first introduced to vaccine development (Bordetella pertussis and Haemophilus influenzae vaccines).

Cynthia conducted her postdoctoral work at the Harvard Medical School on herpes simplex virus. She holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Chicago (thesis on Chlamydia trachomatis), an MS in Epidemiology, and a BS in Microbiology from the University of Washington.