Katalin Kariko of Hungary and Drew Weissman of the United States won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in the year 2023 for their discoveries regarding nucleoside base modifications that facilitated the development of a successful mRNA vaccine against COVID-19.
Katalin Kariko was born in Szolnok, Hungary in the year 1955. In 1982, she received her PhD from Szeged’s University and later she performed her postdoctoral research in Szeged until 1985 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In the year 1989, she was appointed as the Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where Drew Weissman was working, she remained in that college until 2013. Later, Katalin became the vice president and after that she was the senior vice president at BioTech RNA Pharmaceuticals. From 2021, she has been working as a lecturer at Szeged University and is also associated with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania as an Adjunct Professor.”
Drew Weissman was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, USA, in the year 1959. In 1987, he received his MD, PhD degrees from Boston University. Weissman did his clinical training at Harvard Medical School at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and his postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health. Weissman started his research group at the University of Pennsylvania at the Perelman School of Medicine in 1997. He is the Family Professor of Robert in Vaccine Research and also the Director of Penn Institute for RNA Innovations.”
The jury said, “The pair was considered as favorites and were honored “for their incredible discoveries relating to nucleoside base modifications that empowered the development of undefeatable mRNA vaccines against COVID-19″. The Nobelists contributed to the development of an extraordinary vaccine during one of the biggest dangers to human health in recent times,” it added.
These two will receive a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque of one million dollars from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal program in Stockholm. Laureates are invited to collect their awards on December 10th at the ceremony, Alfred Nobel’s death anniversary. According to Nobel’s wish, the respected peace prize will be handed out in Oslo, while the award ceremony for others will be held in Stockholm.
