Walter Straus is Vice President for Clinical Safety & Risk Management at Moderna. After joining Moderna in March 2021, he was charged with building and leading the team responsible for clinical safety and pharmacovigilance for the COVID-19 vaccine program. His current responsibilities include strategic support for vaccine development with a focus on safety, coordination of safety issues arising from manufacturing, and policy initiatives and external collaborations that primarily focus upon safety. Prior to joining Moderna, Dr. Straus served as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer then on staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta). He then worked for 20 years at Merck & Co. Inc. where he led teams in scientific affairs, real world evidence, epidemiology, clinical safety, and pharmacovigilance, primarily supporting vaccines and infectious diseases. He has served on the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protection (SACHRP), is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP), and currently participates in the CIOMS Working Group on artificial intelligence in pharmacovigilance.