Katalin Karikó

Insights into the life and work of the Nobel Prize winner

Katalin Karikó is Professor at the University of Szeged and Adjunct Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she conducted research for 24 years. From 2013 to 2022 she was Senior Vice President at BioNTech SE. She received her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Szeged in 1983. For four decades, she has been researching RNA-based mechanisms with the aim of developing mRNA for protein therapy. Together with Drew Weissman, she discovered that modified nucleosides suppress the immune response to RNA - a breakthrough for mRNA therapies and vaccines. Her patent served as the basis for the COVID-19 vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. Both were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2023. Karikó is a co-founder of RNARx, a member of 13 scientific academies, holds honorary doctorates from 19 universities and has received over 100 awards.

Lecture on May 19, 2025 at the Medical University of Vienna