Katalin Karikó Donates Copy of Nobel Prize

The winner of last year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology, Hungarian mRNA researcher Katalin Karikó has donated a copy of her Nobel Prize and the prize money to her former alma mater, the University of Szeged (SZTE).

In a lecture this Tuesday, during which she reported on the events of last December's Nobel Week in Stockholm, the biochemist announced that she would donate a copy of her award to the university, as well as the more than USD half a million that will go to outstanding teachers and students.

The researcher said that many people have worked on the coronavirus vaccine and the research that made it possible, and she would like to share the prize and the money it brings with future generations.

A replica of the Nobel Prize was placed in a new permanent exhibition on the life and work of Katalin Karikó, which opened in the Study and Information Center of the University of Szeged.

Speaking to the students at the opening of the exhibition, the researcher said she was confident that the prize on display and the support generated by her donation would inspire teachers and students to be the best they can be. He said he planned to give the prize to one researcher or student each year, and would like to present the awards in person.

At her press conference, Katalin Karikó said she had spent most of the last three years at airports and airports, visiting cities she had never seen. But in the future, she wants to concentrate on her work.

She stressed that making modified mRNA is very cheap and fast. There are already more than 250 clinical trials using mRNA technology in progress worldwide. The most advanced are vaccines against viruses, so vaccines are being developed against influenza, HIV or monkeypox, but also to prevent bacterial or parasitic diseases such as TB or malaria. There is also promise for methods to make vaccines using several antigens present in tumors, or personalized methods to help a patient avoid tumor recurrence in pancreatic cancer or melanoma, or to treat peanut or dust mite allergies.

Speaking at the ceremony to welcome Katalin Karikó, SZTE Rector László Rovó said that the coronavirus vaccine gave doctors a tool to effectively fight the pandemic. The Nobel Prize-winning discovery that led to the creation of the vaccine will bring huge changes to healthcare in the coming decades, with the advent of new treatments that can significantly improve quality of life.

The Rector presented Katalin Karikó with a university lab coat. He said that the university research professor will soon be using it, as she has had her own study in Szeged since last year, the same one that once belonged to 1937 Hungarian Nobel Prize recipient Albert Szent-Györgyi.