A GUIDE TO : TONYA VILLAFANA

CLE PT # 1
By Samantha Secuelan, Tryne Espartero, Joshua Yee,
Martin Villacorta
 Tonya Villafana

Vice President, Global

Franchise Head, Infection
at AstraZeneca
 Get to know her
TONYA VILLAFANA'S BIRTHDAY IS ON 07/01/1970 AND IS 50
YEARS OLD. TONYA VILLAFANA LIVES IN BETHESDA, MD;
PREVIOUS CITIES INCLUDE NEW YORK NY, SPRINGFIELD
GARDENS NY AND THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO.
TONYA L VILLAFANA ARE SOME OF THE ALIAS OR
NICKNAMES THAT TONYA HAS USED. SHE IS LISTED AS
CHRISTIAN, ETHNICITY IS AFRO-TRINIDADIAN,
Before 2020, Tonya Villafana’s core R&D
focus at AstraZeneca was infectious
disease, notably stopping RSV, a common
cold virus that can cause serious and
sometimes fatal chest infections in young
and vulnerable infants.
Now she leads the global research and
development team responsible for the
AstraZeneca/Oxford University COVID-
19 vaccine candidate AZD1222, one of
the biggest hopes to stop SARS-CoV-
02 in its tracks.
 “The urgent global need for a
vaccine for COVID-19 cannot be
overstated and we are moving
quickly but without cutting any
corners at all: Patient safety is
paramount,” Villafana stated
 As the Global Franchise Lead for Infectious Diseases and a
Global Product Lead, She works within BioPharmaceuticals R&D
to explore potential new vaccines and drugs to prevent or to
treat infectious diseases in the most vulnerable populations
globally. She collaborates closely with a number of important
external stakeholders at a global level, including public health
organisations, regulatory authorities, and government
representatives and healthcare policymakers on key
development milestones from early development to launch of
product.
vaccines she has contributed in
making ;
AZD1222 (ChAdOx1-S vaccine),
MEDI8897 (nirsevimab),
MEDI7510, MEDI8852,
MEDI5537, MEDI534 and
MEDI559.
From 2001-2006 Tonya was the
Site Director of the HIV Vaccine
Initiative at the Botswana Harvard
School of Public Health AIDS
Initiative Partnership for HIV
Research and Education in
Gaborone, Botswana.
She established clinical sites to conduct the
first HIV vaccine studies in the southern
African nation, in collaboration with the US
NIH HIV Vaccine Trials Network.
 She was a member of the ISV
Scientific Committee for the 2017
meeting held in Paris, where she
helped to create a forum for young
investigators interested in
vaccines.
 AWARDS

Featured Speaker, Women and Science Program, Wistar

Institute, 2017
Award
International Award, HVTN Site Director of the Year, HIV
Vaccine Trials Network, 2004
Award
Fellowship, Fourth Advanced Vaccinology Course, Fondation
Merieux, Veyrier du Lac, France, 2003
Award
Jack and Susan Rudin Scholar, Weill Cornell University
Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY 1992-
1998
Overcoming the challenges posed
by infectious diseases takes
advanced science combined with
a deeply community centric
approach. AstraZeneca’s values
are strongly aligned to this and
that is how we can make such an
incredible impact across the
world.
 end.
submitted to : Sir Joseph