Global Medical Expert: Dr. Katalin Karikó
- Global Research Partnerships
- May 24
- 1 min read
Nobel Laureate in Medicine (2023) | Biochemist | Pioneer of mRNA Vaccine Technology
Dr. Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist who specializes in RNA-mediated mechanisms and laid the scientific groundwork for mRNA vaccines. She received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine alongside Drew Weissman for discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Born in 1955 in rural Hungary, Karikó dedicated her life's work to messenger RNA research despite decades of skepticism and rejection from the scientific community. Her breakthrough came in collaboration with Drew Weissman in the early 2000s when they discovered how to modify synthetic mRNA to avoid triggering unwanted immune responses, making it safe and effective for therapeutic use.
Karikó's work directly enabled the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which have been administered more than 13 billion times globally and saved millions of lives. From 2013 to 2022, she served as Senior Vice President at BioNTech, where she continued developing mRNA technologies. She is currently a Professor at the University of Szeged in Hungary and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Notable Recent Achievements
Her modified mRNA technology enabled the development of COVID-19 vaccines that were developed and approved in record time during the pandemic
Current research focuses on expanding mRNA applications beyond infectious diseases to cancer treatment, autoimmune diseases, and other therapeutic areas
Received over 130 international awards and honors for her pioneering work in biochemistry
