Journal article
2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Katalin Kariko, Ph.D. and Drew Weissman, MD, Ph.D.
JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE-ENGINEERING AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS, v 359(18), p10320
Dec 2022
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman are the recipients of the 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science for their fundamental research enabling the use of mRNA as a safe, effective, and life-saving vaccine platform for the prevention of infectious disease, including COVID-19. Katalin Kariko, a Hungarian born scientist, developed a lifelong passion for mRNA in graduate school. She migrated to the United States in 1985 to pursue post-doctoral studies at Temple University. Several years later, she was offered a research assistant professor position at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. There, she began her work on mRNA. She struggled with research funding and laboratory space. No matter how dire her circumstances, she never gave up and maintained her passionate belief that mRNA could be a powerful therapeutic agent. In 1998, she met Dr. Drew Weissman, an immunologist, who had just been recruited to UPenn as an assistant professor from Dr. Anthony Fauci's laboratory at the NIH. He wanted to develop a vaccine to HIV. After discussions with Dr. Kariko, he was intrigued by the idea of developing a mRNA-based vaccine and began a collabora-tion with her. They, as well as other scientists, discovered that mRNA induces a powerful inflammatory response in mice. Their goal was to change the mRNA structure and its method of production so that it could be a useful therapeutic agent. They did so in three seminal papers. In the first, they were able
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Details
- Title
- 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Katalin Kariko, Ph.D. and Drew Weissman, MD, Ph.D.
- Publication Details
- JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE-ENGINEERING AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS, v 359(18), p10320
- Publisher
- PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD; OXFORD
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000929029300008
- Other Identifier
- 991021861164404721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Automation & Control Systems
- Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
- Engineering, Multidisciplinary
- Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications