Over the course of 2020, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has spread across the globe causing an ongoing pandemic responsible for the deaths of more than 1.3 million people. It has brought countries to a standstill, strained hospital systems, and plunged the world into an economic recession. Against this backdrop, the mini Keystone eSymposium “COVID-19: One Year Later” will begin with a keynote address by Dr. Anthony Fauci and then delve into the biology of SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility and spread. Human innate and adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 will be discussed and updates on the current state of monoclonal antibody-based therapies and prophylactic vaccines will be presented. As people around the globe await the arrival of effective preventive and treatment strategies that might bring an end to the current crisis, this mini-symposium will discuss the risk of future zoonotic transmissions of coronaviruses, especially from bats. Finally, the successes and challenges of modelling COVID-19 dynamics will be the focus of a panel discussion with emphasis on lessons learned for future pandemics. This mini-symposium will be of broad interest to scientists across many disciplines who wish to gain a better understanding of the current pandemic and the application of this knowledge to the prevention of future outbreaks.