Nobel Prize winner
Katalin Karikó donates a copy of her Nobel Prize and the money associated with it to her former alma mater, the University of Szeged (SZTE).
In a presentation about Nobel Week in Stockholm last December, the biochemist announced that the $500,000 prize money would benefit the university’s faculty and students. Many people worked on the vaccine against the coronavirus, so she wanted to share the award and the amount of money she received with the next generation. The money will be used for a prize that Karikó will personally present each year to a lecturer and researcher as well as a student.
mRNA cheap process for vaccines
Karikó himself would like to devote more time to research after the recent years were characterized by a lot of travel. She emphasized that producing modified mRNA is a very cheap and quick way to develop vaccines against flu, HIV or monkeypox. But it can also be used against bacterial and parasitic diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria. Methods using antigens that are present in various tumors are also promising. Individualized procedures could help patients prevent tumor recurrence in the case of pancreatic cancer.
Improved quality of life
According to the university’s rector, Prof. László Rovó, doctors were able to effectively combat the pandemic with the coronavirus vaccine. The fundamental and Nobel Prize-winning discovery will continue to lead to major changes in healthcare in the coming decades. This could lead to new treatment options that significantly improve quality of life. The rector symbolically presented Katalin Karikó, who has been able to use Albert Szent-Györgyi’s former office at the university since 2023, with a lab coat. The copy of her Nobel Prize can be seen in the new permanent exhibition in the SZTE Study and Information Center, dedicated to the life and work of Katalin Karikó.
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