Scientist receives UCC honorary doctorate for work on covid vaccine
Was At Outstanding Where Mcsweeney/provision Her College Cork, She Awarded Daragh And Public Contributions To Doctorate For Karikó University An Honorary Picture: Katalin Science Health
The scientist whose pioneering research led to the creation of covid vaccines and who is often described as “covid’s forgotten hero” insists that healthcare workers were the real heroes of the pandemic.
Katalin Karikó also dismissed the claims of covid deniers and anti-vaxxers, pointing out that much of the “fake news” during the pandemic came from those who were not on the frontline.
“None of them worked in a hospital,” said Dr Karikó.
“All of those people in hospitals, whether they are cleaning ladies or doctors, they knew what happened.
“I remember seeing photographs from my local hospital in Philadelphia of bodies being put into plastic body bags, and then into refrigerated trucks, and they had to look for more containers because they didn’t know where to put the bodies.
“Those people who were there saw that, and then saw what happened when the vaccine came. They are the real heroes.”
Dr Karikó, 68, was speaking in Cork on Wednesday before she was conferred with an honorary doctorate at University College Cork a day after she was presented with the 2023 Dawson Prize in genetics at Trinity College Dublin for her work on messenger RNA (mRNA) — the genetic code that carries DNA instructions to each cell.
Until recently, she was senior vice president at BioNTech and holds an adjunct position at the University of Pennsylvania.
Her mRNA work was central to the technology used by BioNTech and Moderna to develop the mRNA vaccines to target covid-19. The vaccines saved millions of lives, protected billions more, and helped to turn the tide on the pandemic.
The US-based Hungarian-born scientist told medicine and health students and researchers at UCC that she spent four decades working in labs, sometimes without funding, and always without recognition, and that her work was just one part of a large jigsaw that ultimately led to the creation of mRNA vaccines.
However, she said she is humbled, excited, and appreciative that her work is now being recognised.
“It is such a relief to know that by now, the mRNA vaccine successfully protected millions of people from the serious effects of covid-19.”
UCC president John O’Halloran said the university wanted to honour Dr Karikó for her outstanding contributions to science.
“The personal and professional perseverance of Dr Karikó to develop the science that protected our world is deeply inspiring,” he said.
“With unrelenting determination and courage, Dr Karikó has made an enormous contribution to the fight against viral diseases and turned the tide of the pandemic.”
UCC professor John Cryan, vice president of research and innovation, described her as an “inspirational role model” for everyone involved in basic research and its translation into innovative solutions for global problems.
“Her story is one of persistence and belief. She has enabled future medicines to arrive today,” he said.