Moncef Slaoui

Moncef Mohamed Slaoui (English: ; French: [mɔ̃sɛf slawi]; Moroccan Arabic: منصف السلاوي, IPA: [ˈmonsˤəf ˈsːlæwi]; born July 22, 1959) is a Moroccan-born researcher who served as the head of Operation Warp Speed (OPWASP) under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021. Slaoui is the former head of the vaccines department at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). He worked at the company for thirty years, retiring in 2017. On May 15, 2020, President Donald Trump announced that Slaoui would manage the U.S. government's development of a vaccine used to treat coronavirus disease in OPWASP; Slaoui resigned on January 12, 2021 after successfully having helped introduce a number of vaccines to the US and global markets. In March 2021, Slaoui was fired from the board of GSK subsidiary Galvani Bioelectronics over what GSK called “substantiated” sexual harassment allegations stemming from his time at the parent company. Slaoui issued an apology statement and stepped down from positions at other companies at the same time.