Making mRNA a Reality at Moderna

Lei Zhou (MBP '18) talks about being a senior research associate at Moderna and the process development role she played for the company's COVID-19 vaccine.

Lei Zhou (MBP '18)There were people in the general population who had not heard of the messenger (mRNA) molecule before Pfizer and Moderna received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for their COVID-19 vaccines in late 2020.

Lei Zhou (MBP '18) was not one of those people.

Zhou is a senior research associate in process development at Moderna, where she's worked on mRNA process development since 2018. In that role, she creates processes for mRNA production. 

"We develop, characterize, optimize, and ultimately scale-up and tech transfer the process we make to the larger manufacturing scale," Zhou said. "We also document all the activities and help with regulatory filing.”

Zhou played an active role in the late stage of mRNA process development for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine by helping support the technology transfer from a small-scale process to a larger manufacturing-size scale. She was also involved in evaluating new equipment and raw materials that were used in the vaccine's manufacturing.  

Zhou spends half of her time in the lab, where she tests new materials, develops new processes, evaluates new instruments, and demonstrates the proof-of-concept for new ideas. The other half is spent documenting her lab work.  

The dream of a career as a scientist came to Zhou as a young girl, when she first saw baby chicks born and got to explore the world around her with her toy telescope — the reality was made possible by her time in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Biotechnology Program (MBP). Zhou developed fundamental knowledge of bioprocesses that she uses nearly every day, as well as presentation skills and technical writing proficiency that she continues to rely on.

She is working on development work that uses chromatography, a chemical process she had never performed before MBP. 

"MBP offers very flexible course options and encourages the students to explore different opportunities," Zhou said.

MBP also encourages students to pursue optional internships or co-ops once they've completed the first three quarters of the program. These internships and co-ops are meant to demonstrate the importance of practical learning opportunities and further prepare students for careers in biotechnology. Zhou completed a six-month co-op at Catalent, and credits that experience with solidifying her desire to work in the sciences. 

Moderna recently highlighted Zhou as part of its "The People Behind the Science" video series on LinkedIn to its more than 235,000 followers. In the video, she talked about her relentless attitude and things she liked to do outside of work. Zhou also made it clear she prides herself on her work at Moderna — and ultimately making a difference. 

"We've been through a lot of difficulties," she said in the video, "and also we've seen a lot of failures, but we never seem to give up."

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