8 minute read
Man on a Mission
BY CHRISTINE Y. ROBERTSON
We can never really know what’s around the next corner, and we can’t prevent it from coming—but we can control our response. In the span of just a few weeks, J.B. Dowd ’86, Associate Director of Supply Chain Quality at Moderna, was suddenly facing not just one, but two foes: a cancer diagnosis and a pandemic. As his world—and the world at large—changed in unimaginable ways, he kept moving forward with faith and determination to battle his own health challenges while fighting the COVID-19 virus to help others.
Dowd joined the world-class team at Moderna in January 2019, just a year before the pandemic began to unfold. Recruited for his extensive experience in clinical operations and quality assurance (QA), he was brought on board the biotechnology company’s QA department, supporting clinical packaging and labeling. Having spent the majority of his career working in medical devices at Boston Scientific, as well as stints in pharmaceuticals, biotech and other regulated industries, Dowd was drawn to working for Moderna because of its mission—to deliver on the promise of mRNA science to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients. “I needed to be a part of a company driven by a bigger cause,” shared Dowd. “Moderna’s mission was not only impressive, it was also potentially creating a whole new platform of medicines that would change the way we treated disease in the future.”
In Dowd’s first year at Moderna, he had the opportunity to grow alongside the company as he learned the ropes. “If the pandemic had come one year earlier, it would have been an even greater challenge,” he noted. “Timing was everything.” When it comes to cancer treatment, the same sentiment holds true—timing is everything—especially when the worldwide spread of a new infectious disease is on the horizon. In November 2019, Dowd was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer after taking a test for a life insurance policy. Through his work at Boston Scientific and from his father, a urologist who served as the President of the American Urological Association, he knew all too well what he was up against. Although his dad, Joe, had passed away in 1999, he still had many friends in the field of urology. Dowd tapped into that strong network of resources and on December 18, 2019, he had surgery.
J.B. gives two thumbs up following his prostate cancer surgery at Mass General Hospital.
Only a few weeks later, after Dowd returned to work in January 2020, his team at Moderna began to hear about the impending pandemic. “I remember sitting down with one of our vice presidents and talking about how this is different, potentially more contagious than anything we’ve seen in a long time,” recalled Dowd. “Our scientists recognized this was something we had an obligation to tackle and we were well-designed to do it, having already proven our capabilities on a smaller scale.” Dowd watched in awe as teams of Moderna’s brilliant scientists began to take 12-hour shifts, working day and night to develop a potential vaccine before most of the world even knew the virus was coming.
In preparation for the growing tidal wave, Moderna developed a strong corporate understanding of how its employees would continue to operate while keeping safe once COVID-19 hit their doorstep. In March, when Massachusetts went into lockdown, Dowd and his team were ready to collaborate screen to screen rather than desk to desk, working remotely as much as possible. Those who needed to be in the facility took every precaution, wearing full PPE. “We were all on a mission and no one wanted to be pulled from the game due to illness.” Drawing another analogy from his athletic experiences at St. Sebastian’s, Dowd noted that “everything can change once you get on the field and you have to figure out a way to innovate as a team to meet a goal. If you can adapt and adjust, rather than be caught from behind, you can be victorious.”
J.B. wearing PPE while working at a Moderna facility.
Ironically, the pandemic provided the opportunity for Dowd to adjust his lifestyle in order to improve his odds against the cancer. “I knew going into my illness that I needed to take this on; there was no room for melancholy. There’s only controlling what you can control and doing it in the most upbeat and positive way.” His wife, Tiffany, also found herself working from home, with all her frequent travel for her job coming to a sudden stop. This turned out to be a true blessing as she supported Dowd in his recovery and became an amazing vegan chef when he switched to a completely plant-based diet. These efforts, combined with tremendous medical care, contributed to the success of his treatment and made it possible for him to continue to work.
As the virus spread like wildfire, Dowd’s role at Moderna focused on what needed to be done to deliver the vaccine. In addition to supporting clinical study activities, he worked with strategic partners and Moderna’s team to prepare for the final drug product release. “I remember thinking we had to get the design of the carton and label just right because this particular vaccine was going to be seen on the nightly news,” shared Dowd. Shaped by a well-rounded liberal arts education at St. Sebastian’s, followed by Boston College, Dowd understood the importance of being able to communicate and collaborate well with his colleagues who performed many different functions under these extraordinary circumstances.
The son of two doctors, Dowd had often wondered how he could fill his parents’ shoes—where would he make his mark? Before becoming a urologist, Dowd’s father fought in the South Pacific in World War II, and his mother was a physician in an era when women were rarely professionals. Although Dowd was not on the front lines, he found himself playing a role in the fight against a different kind of enemy along with many others he considers heroes— health care workers and the people in service and retail industries who kept showing up every day to do their jobs. “It felt like a wartime experience, where factories changed and John and Jane America were contributing their part to the effort to support their fellow mankind,” observed Dowd.
In the final months of her life, Dowd’s mother was witness to his relentless dedication to getting the vaccine out into the world so it could save lives. Although her son was not able to visit her in the nursing home during much of that time, as a physician, she understood what was happening and was so proud of him and Moderna. Just two weeks after Dowd’s mother passed away, on December 18, 2020, Moderna was granted emergency use authorization (EUA) of mRNA-1273, its vaccine against COVID-19, in individuals 18 years of age or older.
In his role at Moderna, J.B. helped to ensure the quality of the packaging and label of its COVID-19 vaccine.
December 18 was a long day that started early in the morning and didn’t end until nearly 24 hours later as Dowd and his team went through their final checklist. They had been preparing for this moment and were ready to launch their plan to release the first authorized doses to the U. S. Government. “Everyone had a job to do to ensure that we were releasing our product with all quality confirmed, almost like mission control in NASA,” recalls Dowd. “It was one of those moments in my career that I will look back on and realize I was a part of something that was way, way bigger than me.”
Dowd had two phones in his pockets that day, one for work and another for personal use. As the news about the FDA’s EUA approval of Moderna’s vaccine was broadcasted, Dowd’s phones began to buzz. One congratulatory text after another came pouring in from family, friends and colleagues, messages he cherished later when he was finally able to stop and read them. It was also a year to the day after his prostate cancer surgery. “One year before, I’m fighting for my life and a year later, I’m in the fight for everybody’s lives,” noted Dowd.
In the weeks and months that followed, Moderna continued to work to manufacture and distribute the vaccine across the country and the world. Whether it was watching people excitedly flow in and out of Gillette Stadium when he took his mother-inlaw and sister-in-law to be vaccinated or being thanked by a total stranger when he wore his Moderna fleece to pick up his wife at the airport, Dowd felt incredibly gratified to know that he has played even a small part in making a big difference.
Throughout this extraordinary journey, as he balanced his personal and professional lives, Dowd leaned on his faith in God for strength and encouragement. “Faith was the word that came to mind when I thought, ‘Focus on what’s in your control and don’t worry about the things that are outside of your control because it’s all going to be okay,’” shared Dowd. “That definitely goes back to my time at St. Sebastian’s, and as an alumnus, it’s a message I’ve heard clearly conveyed by Bill Burke.” Dowd’s faith reminds him that he is not alone, that he is part of a larger whole, and there is no question he has used this as a driving motivation in his mission to beat his own cancer while fighting a global pandemic.
