Drew Weismann, M.D., Ph.D.

2023 Nobel Prize Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base  modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. 

2022 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D., is a physician-scientist whose ground-breaking work with RNA Biology led  to a Nobel Prize in Medicine. His research laid the foundation for the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19  developed by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. Dr. Weissman is a Professor of Medicine at the Perelman  School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  

His laboratory’s work focuses on the study of RNA and innate immune system biology. One of Dr.  Weissman’s first projects began using an mRNA encoding antigen as a delivery system to load dendritic  cells, which promote broad immune responses as part of a vaccine. This project has expanded to  include basic studies of RNA immunogenicity and translation and the development of applications for  gene therapy.  

Another of Dr. Weissman’s projects develops new HIV envelope immunogens that can induce broad  responses and cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies. A third project continues his previous studies that  identified a protein found on dendritic cells, macrophages, and epithelial cells that bind HIV envelopes  with high affinity. The main focus of this project is testing whether this and related molecules function in  vivo to promote HIV genital tract infection with optimism to create a vaccine for HIV. 

Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D.

2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of a method for high-precision genome editing using the immune system of a bacterium, which disables virus by cutting their DNA with a type of genetic scissors.

Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., is a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, and is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair and  a Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of  California, Berkeley.  

Dr. Doudna’s research focuses on RNA biology, leading to the development of CRISPR-Cas9 as  genome-engineering technology. This innovative technology earned Dr. Doudna and her collaborator,  Emmanuelle Charpentier, the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She co-founded and serves on the advisory  panel of several companies that use CRISPR technology in novel ways, leading the discussion of the  ethical implications of CRISPR’s revolutionary technology across biology and medicine.  

Additionally, Doudna is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, senior investigator at  Gladstone Institutes, and the founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute; Dr. Doudna is a member of  several other distinguished scientific and medical societies and has received numerous other honors.  

Current research in the Doudna lab focuses on discovering and determining the mechanisms of novel  CRISPR-Cas and associated proteins; developing genome editing tools for use in vitro, in plants, and in  mammals; and developing anti-CRISPR agents.