Katalin Karikó, PhD

Katalin Karikó, PhD, is professor at University of Szeged, Hungary, and adjunct professor of neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, where she worked for 24 years. She is a former senior vice president of BioNTech SE, Mainz, Germany, where she worked between 2013 and 2022. She received her PhD in biochemistry from University of Szeged in 1982. For four decades, her research has focused 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 co-founded and from 2006 to 2013 served as CEO of RNARx, a company dedicated to developing nucleoside-modified mRNA for therapy. Her patents — for application of non-immunogenic, modified RNA — co-invented with Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, were used to create the FDA-approved COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna to fight the pandemic. For her achievements she has received many prestigious awards, including the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Anthony S. Fauci, MD

Anthony S. Fauci, MD has served as a distinguished university professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine and McCourt School of Public Policy since 2023. He also is a distinguished senior scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown. Previously, Fauci directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health from 1984 to 2022. In that role, Fauci was a key advisor to seven presidents on global HIV/AIDS issues, and on preparedness against emerging infectious disease threats. He also served as the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden. Fauci was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has helped save more than 25 million lives throughout the developing world.

Fauci is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and many other professional societies. He has received numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science and the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service. He has been awarded 62 honorary doctoral degrees from universities in the United States and throughout the world, and is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than 1,400 scientific publications.