The Fifth Edition of the King's E-Lab Annual Nobel Prize Series with Katalin Karikó
As part of our Nobel Prize series, join us for a fireside chat with Kati Karikó, whose research was crucial to the development of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, as she discusses her journey and breaking barriers in the field.
Speaker Bio:
Katalin Karikó is professor at University of Szeged and adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2013 to 2022 she was a senior vice president at BioNTech. Prior to BioNTech, she worked for 24 years at the University of Pennsylvania.
For decades, her research has been focusing on RNA-mediated mechanisms with the goal of developing in vitro-transcribed mRNA for therapy. She co-founded and served as CEO of RNARx. Her patents on nucleoside-modified uridines in mRNA were used to create the FDA-approved COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. For her achievement Karikó received many prestigious awards, including the Japan Prize, the Horwitz Prize, the Tang Prize, the Canada Gairdner Award, the Breakthrough Prize, the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award and the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her daughter, Susan Francia, is a 2-time Olympic champion rower.
WHEN: Friday, 19th June 2026
5.30 PM – 6.30 PM: Fireside chat followed by Q&A
6.30 PM - 7.00PM: Networking and drinks reception
WHERE: King’s College, Cambridge
TICKETS: Registration will open closer to the time.
Please note that there will be photography at this event.
Please also note that this event will take place in a college space during the exam quiet period. We kindly ask that you are mindful of students preparing for their exams and keep noise to a minimum when arriving, departing, and moving around the venue.