Dr. Hyer has more than years of experience in biotechnology with vaccines, biologics and biosimilars.  As the Senior Vice President for Global Medical Affairs at Moderna, Dr. Hyer helped develop, communicate and manage the global rollout of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.  In 2017, he was pivotal in engaging the scientific, medical and policy communities to achieve FDA approval of a new adult hepatitis B vaccine (HEPLISAV-B), the first vaccine using a truly novel adjuvant.  Beyond development, his responsibilities have included managing large teams, directing vaccine and pharmaceutical safety programs, overseeing vaccine clinical operations, engaging scientists and policymakers, and managing crises. 

Dr. Hyer is also a risk and crisis management expert with broad experience including disease outbreaks, product safety concerns, reorganizations and downsizing, budget cuts, outbreak investigations, rogue employee mitigations, health hazard evaluations, and strategic communications.  He is the Vice President for risk communication at the National Council for Radiation Protection and Measurement, advises the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and lectures at Harvard University.

Board-certified in general preventive medicine and public health, Dr. Hyer earned his MD from Duke and trained at Walter Reed Hospital and Harvard.  He received the PhD from the University of Oxford researching the genetics of juvenile diabetes.  His studies won the NIH “Outstanding Research Award for Clinical Trainees” and are widely cited.

Dr. Hyer graduated with Distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy.  Rising to the rank of Commander, his naval service included 4 major military combat operations in Europe and southwest Asia as well as 3 major complex humanitarian emergencies with Kosovo relief, Mozambique flood relief and the Indian Ocean tsunami.  Dr. Hyer also served as the Winter-Over Medical Officer at the McMurdo and South Pole Stations, Antarctica as the sole physician.

At Oxford University, Dr. Hyer founded the biotechnology company, Alpha-Plus DNA.  He also served as a US Congressional Fellow for Senator Pete V. Domenici (R. -NM).  Dr. Hyer helped introduce legislation to safeguard genetic privacy that eventually became the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA) of 2008.

At the World Health Organization in Geneva, Dr. Hyer served as a Medical Officer and Military Liaison.  Among other duties, he helped facilitated the WHO response to various crisis such as anthrax, Ebola, the 2003 SARS outbreak, tsunamis, earthquakes, and pandemic influenza.

Dr. Hyer’s perspectives and contributions span his residing in eight countries and traveling to 100 plus countries in diverse roles across the public and private sectors.