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As SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccines are deployed to protect hundreds of millions of people around the world and lead the way to end the deadly global COVID-19 pandemic, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, whose scientific effort at premonitory discovery laid the groundwork for rapid vaccine development was awarded the 2021 Lasker ~ DeBakey Prize for Clinical Medical Research.
Messenger RNA innovators Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, Roberts family professor of vaccine research at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, and Katalin Karikó, PhD, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Penn and senior vice president from BioNTech, are being honored with what is widely regarded as America’s premier biomedical research award for the discovery of a therapeutic technology based on modifying mRNA that makes it remarkably safe and effective.
The global impact and recognition of Weissman and Karikó’s work originates in their years of research together at the University of Pennsylvania to study mRNA as a potential therapy. Their groundbreaking study published in 2005 found that their concept, which brought new hope to a field plagued by skepticism and false starts, could be a reality: that mRNA could be altered and then delivered effectively into the body to initiate a protective immune response. Their method of turning cells into factories that can temporarily produce proteins that serve as therapeutic compounds or stimulate the body’s immune system to attack a specific pathogen also minimizes harmful inflammatory responses.
This platform paved the way for the rapid development and deployment of mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19 when the virus exploded across the world in early 2020. Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna both licensed the technology from the University of Pennsylvania which is used in their COVID-19. vaccines, of which 370 million combined doses have been administered in the United States alone. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is deployed in 126 countries and 71 countries use the Moderna vaccine.
“The visionary research of Dr Weissman and Dr Kariko and their persistence in unleashing the power of mRNA as a therapeutic platform established Penn and Philadelphia as the birthplace of mRNA vaccines, and provided us with the model for a future in which we can fight infectious infections. and incurable genetic diseases, from herpes and malaria to sickle cell anemia and cancer, ”said J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania executive vice president for health system and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine. “From the challenges and losses sown by the COVID-19 pandemic, their groundbreaking findings have emerged and allow us to glimpse a brighter future for so many areas of medicine. “
For 75 years, the Lasker Awards have recognized the contributions of leaders who make major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of human disease. The Weissman and Karikó awards, which between them include honoraria of $ 250,000, were announced today in a virtual ceremony by the Lasker Foundation. Past Lasker Prize winners include Jonas E. Salk for inventing the polio vaccine and Anthony Fauci for designing government programs to tackle the problems of HIV and biodefense. Weissman completed his Fellowship in Immunology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, serving Fauci’s laboratory.
Seven former Penn Medicine faculty members received Lasker Awards, for their achievements, including the development of cognitive behavioral therapy, vaccines against pneumonia and meningitis, and the first discovery of a genetic cause of cancer. , the so-called Philadelphia chromosome.
“As a physician-researcher, you hope your work will one day have a positive impact on real people, and it was more than exciting to see that happen,” Weissman said. “But now I’m very happy to team up with colleagues to explore what mRNA vaccines can do. We are working on malaria with people in the United States and Africa and on leptospirosis with people in Asia. Southeast. We’re working on peanut allergy vaccines. It’s all done through collaboration. We find the best people in the world and ask them, “Do you want to collaborate on making this vaccine?” “
Karikó also collaborates with fellow scientists on new discoveries, comparing research to the thrill of watching a complex detective story unfold. “So many cryptic things about RNA that I find very, very exciting,” Karikó said. “And I’m so happy that it has finally helped mankind.” Of her collaborations with Weissman, she added, “Sometimes we would ask a question and do an experiment. And of course, instead of the answer, we got 100 more questions. It was very nice. I would like to stress that to be a scientist is a joy. “
Weissman and Karikó have been recognized this year with multiple national and international distinctions, including the Princess of Asturias Prize, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research and the Breakthrough Prize.
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University of Pennsylvania
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