SMP2023 Keynote: Dr Katalin Karikó, the Scientist Who Gave the World mRNA

It’s three years ago this month that COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. We’ve seen nearly 800 million confirmed cases around the world and nearly 7 million deaths… and there are signs that another wave is underway in Australia as we head into the colder months. But imagine those numbers if we didn’t have the vaccines – particularly the mRNA vaccines.  In this episode, we meet the Hungarian born, US scientist Dr Katalin Karikó. It’s her research, along with collaborator, Dr Drew Weissman from the University of Pennsylvania, that gave the world the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines. Dr Karikó is one of the key participants in this year’s ‘Science Meets Parliament’ conference, delivered by Science and Technology Australia (STA).She is joined by STA’s Chief Executive, Mischa Schubert, for a fireside chat on International Women’s Day.MTPConnect is again partnering with STA for the ‘Science Meets Parliament’ National Press Club Address later this month, which will be delivered by Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic.