Corbett was instrumental in developing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
WATCH: Corbett praised as key scientist behind COVID-19 vaccine
Black woman from NC praised as key scientist behind vaccine
Dr. Anthony Fauci called her a "rising star" of the Vaccine Research Center's coronavirus team at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Corbett's work also led to the development of the Eli Lilly therapeutic monoclonal antibody treatment that now has emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.
"Her work will have a substantial impact on ending the worst respiratory-disease pandemic in more than 100 years," Fauci said in an article for TIME Magazine.
Corbett was was born in Hurdle Mills and raised in Hillsborough. She attended Stanback Middle School and graduated from Orange High School. She went on to earn Bachelor of Science degrees in biological sciences and sociology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and in 2014 received a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.