By GREGORY ZELLER //
The technology behind the breakthrough COVID-19 vaccines has earned two University of Pennsylvania scientists highest marks from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.
Specifically, UPenn Perelman School of Medicine researchers Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman – heralded as the inventors of the mRNA technology used in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines – have earned the 2022 Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine.
The Ross Prize is awarded by Molecular Medicine, the Manhasset-based Feinstein Institutes’ peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal. Karikó and Weissman’s awards constitute the ninth-annual award round but were actually delayed a year by pandemic-related concerns, which wiped out the 2021 Ross Awards ceremony.
Katalin Karikó : Ready for more.
Their prizes, including a $50,000 stipend for each scientist, are slated to be officially conveyed during a June 7 symposium at the New York Academy of Sciences.
Karikó, a Penn adjunct professor of neurosurgery and senior vice president of German biotech BioNTech, credited the development of the mRNA vaccines to “the decades-long scientific process and (the) power of medical research.”
“Through the support of the Ross Prize, I am eager to continue our mRNA research to advance the technology even further,” Karikó added.
The UPenn duo – whose 20-year-plus scientific collaboration has unlocked a wealth of gene-related information – played a key role in the development of Pfizer’s vaccine, which was created in partnership with BioNTech. Tracing the same vaccine-development path, Moderna soon followed.
Weissman, the Perelman School’s Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research, called it a “culminating honor to see our years of research improve global health.”
Drew Weissman: Inspirational message.
“We hope to continue our work and inspire others to propel medical research forward and develop needed vaccines and therapies,” Weissman said Wednesday.
Feinstein Institutes President and CEO Kevin Tracey, Molecular Medicine’s editor emeritus, said delaying the recognition of the UPenn scientists’ monumental work for a year was well worth the wait.
“Drs. Karikó and Weissman’s pursuit of mRNA technology revolutionized our development of vaccines and saved many lives from COVID-19,” Tracey said in a statement. “Their tireless research … allowed us to act quickly amidst a global pandemic and will be built upon for future vaccines in generations to come.
“It is also fitting that we are celebrating in-person the two scientists whose research enabled our ability to get back together again.”
