Dr. Raffael Nachbagauer is an Executive Director and Portfolio Leader at Moderna where he oversees the seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine development portfolio. At Moderna, Dr. Nachbagauer led the first-generation mRNA-based seasonal influenza program, driving advancement from the preclinical stage to a first-in-human study within a year. Under his leadership, Moderna has since initiated multiple phase 1 to 3 clinical studies spanning additional next-generation influenza and influenza/COVID combination vaccines.

Prior to joining Moderna, he was an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where his research focused on the immune responses to virus infections and vaccinations, as well as the development of novel influenza vaccines. He was an investigator on several NIH/NIAID grants and continues to serve on editorial boards and as a peer-reviewer of numerous academic journals. Dr. Nachbagauer has published over 70 scientific articles, is an inventor on seven patents related to the development of vaccine platforms, and has received prestigious awards including the Geoffrey Schild Award in 2020 by the International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases.