Katalin Karikó: Developing mRNA for Therapy

Katalin Karikó is senior vice president at BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals from 2013. She is also adjunct professor at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, where she worked for 24 years. She received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from University of Szeged, Hungary, in 1982. For four decades, her research has been focusing on RNA-mediated mechanisms with the ultimate goal of developing in vitro-transcribed mRNA for protein therapy. She investigated RNA-mediated immune activation and co-discovered that nucleoside modifications suppress immunogenicity of RNA, which widened the therapeutic potentials of mRNA. She is co-inventor on mRNA-related patents for application of non-immunogenic, nucleoside-modified RNA. Thirteen of those are granted by the United States. She co-founded and from 2006-2013 served as CEO of RNARx, a company dedicated to developing nucleoside-modified mRNA for therapy. She is a founding member of the scientific planning committee for the International mRNA Health Conference, an annual nonprofit meeting for advancements of mRNA technology, inaugurated in 2013. She served as guest editor of the Molecular Therapy special issue on mRNA therapy, in 2019. Her patent, co-invented with Drew Weissman on nucleoside-modified uridines in mRNA was used to create the anti-SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna/NIH.
Moderator, Seema Kumar: As Global Head, Office of Innovation, Global Health and Scientific Engagement, Seema works at the intersection of science, media, business and society to expand Johnson & Johnson's leadership as a champion of science and a global health authority. She leads global efforts to enhance public engagement with science, leveraging creative arts to build trust and advance good science and public health policy. Seema is also responsible for Johnson & Johnson's overall innovation reputation, for positioning the Johnson & Johnson R&D pipeline, and for leading the company's COVID vaccine communications and external affairs efforts. In addition, Seema serves as a science, innovation, and public health ambassador for Johnson & Johnson to organizations including the World Economic Forum, the Gates CEO Roundtable, the New York Academy of Sciences, and other partners, where she represents the company's scientific engagement efforts and its commitment to diversity and inclusion in science and technology. A key strategic partner for Johnson & Johnson's Vice Chairman and Chief Scienti