Radboud honorary doctorate for Katalin Karikó

Eventually, after years of toil, rejection and criticism from colleagues, she and fellow researcher Drew Weissman demonstrated that it is possible to trigger an immune response in the body with mRNA without the body turning against the mRNA itself. With this breakthrough, a new revolutionary technique was born.

Thanks to Karikó’s scientific work, BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna were able to develop the current mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. This technique involves the introduction of messenger RNA (mRNA) into the cell, which then stimulates the cell to produce proteins. These proteins resemble the ‘spike proteins’ of the coronavirus, and the body reacts by producing an immune response to these self-made virus proteins. ‘It seems to be a more efficient way of eliciting an immune response than with traditional vaccines,’ says honorary supervisor Floris Rutjes, Professor in Organic Synthesis.

‘Karikó did not have a large research group and never received much funding,’ adds Rutjes, ‘but she is someone who believes in her ideas, someone who has remained strong despite setbacks. With courage and determination, she pursued her scientific vision for a very long time, and by doing so she has ultimately made a significant contribution to the fight against viral diseases.’

About Katalin Karikó

Katalin Karikó (Szolnok, Hungary, 1955) is a professor at the University of Szeged (Hungary) and an adjunct professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (USA). She is also the Senior Vice-President of BioNTech. She has very recently received numerous prestigious awards for her achievements, including the Gairdner Award, the Japan Prize, the Paul Ehrlich Prize, the BBVA Award, the Breakthrough Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal, the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, the Keio Prize, the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, the Tang Prize and the Lasker Award.