Chad Womack, PhD

Dr. Chad Womack is a science educator and technology entrepreneur, researcher, and scholar. Dr. Womack is a Co-Founder and Principal of The America21 Project an innovation-based community and economic development nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering urban centers and underserved communities through science, technology and innovation. As a national nonprofit organization, The America21 Project has launched multiple initiatives in cities through the country. Dr. Womack also serves as a consultant and advisor to the White House, several federal agencies, local, and state governments. Initiatives have included several science educational and training programs designed to address the educational (post-secondary preparation) and human capital needs for the region's biotechnology and life science industry. Prior to The America21 Project, Chad founded the Philadelphia Biotechnology and Life Sciences Institute as a nonprofit initiative dedicated to addressing unmet educational and workforce development needs of the City of Philadelphia. Dr. Womack also has extensive experience in the private sector as a bioentrepreneur and Co-Founder of 3GEN Vaccines – a nanobiotechnology company where he currently serves as Senior Advisor for 3GEN R&D.

Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Womack completed several research fellowships at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), most recently at the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC). As a research fellow and later as a senior fellow at the VRC, Dr. Womack conducted research on the immunopathogenesis of HIV/AIDS and AIDS vaccine development in developing countries, collaborating with investigators in India and Africa. Before coming to the NIH, Dr. Womack completed a fellowship at the Harvard AIDS Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston where he conducted his PhD doctoral research studies.

Dr. Womack earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the Morehouse School of Medicine, and is a proud graduate of Morehouse College earning his B.S. degree in Biology.