In 2024, Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó, professor at the University of Szeged, added yet another prestigious recognition to her impressive list of awards. Along with fellow researchers Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci from the German company BioNTech, she was honored with the Distinguished Medical Science Award by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in the U.S.
This is the first time the Friends of the National Library of Medicine has conferred this recognition on a team of researchers, rather than a single individual. The recipients of the 2024 Distinguished Medical Science Award were announced on May 27 in a press release on the NLM website. BioNTech SE’s top scientists – Katalin Karikó, Nobel laureate advisor to the company, along with two of its founders and directors, Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci – received the award at the NLM Awards Gala on September 10.
Honoring life-changing achievements
The NLM is the largest biomedical library in the world, providing reliable, up-to-date healthcare information to its readers. Its website is a popular hub for those seeking access to the world’s largest database of clinical trial information, available at ClinicalTrials.gov.
The Distinguished Medical Science Award, given by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine, honors outstanding figures in science and healthcare – individuals who have made significant contributions to healthcare, biomedical research, librarianship, and public health. Past recipients include Nobel Prize-winning American chemist Jennifer Doudna and American chemical engineer Robert Langer, who shared the Frontiers of Knowledge Award with Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman.
Groundbreaking contributions to mRNA technology
The NLM Awards Gala was held on September 10 at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C.
“With this award we are honored and delighted to recognize the profound achievements of Dr. Sahin, Dr. Türeci, and Dr. Karikó regarding modified mRNA vaccines and the development of the COVID vaccine. Their research has had a decisively beneficial impact on public health and inspired many biomedical researchers and clinicians,” said Dr. E. Andrew Balas, Vice President of the Friends of the NLM.
Özlem Türeci and Katalin Karikó, two of the co-recipients of the 2024 Distinguished Medical Science Award, pictured with Andrew Balas
The laudation emphasized: “Katalin Karikó, PhD, is a biochemist and researcher, best known for her contributions to mRNA technology and the COVID-19 vaccines. Karikó and Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, were jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries that enabled the modified mRNA technology used in Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection. More than 15 years ago at Penn Medicine, Dr. Karikó and Dr. Weissman found a way to modify mRNA and later developed a delivery technique to package the mRNA in lipid nanoparticles. This made it possible for mRNA to reach the proper part of the body and trigger an immune response to fight disease. These laboratory breakthroughs made mRNA safe, effective, and practical for use as a vaccine against COVID. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine received FDA approval in August 2021, and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized by the FDA for emergency use.”
The Friends of NLM also highlighted the previous joint honors of the three co-awardees, including the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, the Warren Alpert Prize, the Jeantet-Collen Prize for Medicine, the Meyenburg Prize, the Siemens Ring, the Princess Asturias Award, the Coley Award in Basic Immunology, the German Future Prize, the Novo Nordisk Prize, and the German Immunology Prize.
A growing list of honors
After receiving the most prestigious scientific honor, the Nobel Prize, Katalin Karikó continued to earn further recognitions in 2024. The world-renowned professor from the University of Szeged was also awarded several honorary doctorates, as reported by the university’s news portal.
In addition to these honors, Katalin Karikó has also expanded her organizational affiliations, becoming a member of the American Philosophical Society on May 20, 2024. This society, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1734, is based in Philadelphia.
As previously reported, Nobel laureates Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman were also awarded the WHO Director-General’s Award for Global Health. The marble diploma for this recognition is on display at the permanent exhibition Katalin Karikó’s Journey to the Nobel Prize and Beyond at the József Attila Study and Information Center of the University of Szeged.
Research partners Karikó and Weissman were also co-recipients of the 2024 Strittmatter Award, which was presented to them on June 1, 2024, in Philadelphia. Just two days later, they received the 2023 Harvey Prize in Haifa, Israel. Additionally, on June 11, 2024, Katalin Karikó was also awarded the Paul Karrer Gold Medal.
Our extensive coverage of Katalin Karikó’s many accolades throughout the year aims to provide a comprehensive “inventory” of the recognitions she has received so far in 2024.
Source: SZTEinfo, I.Ú.
Photo: K.K.
