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.

M. Joycelyn Elders, M.D.

Surgeon General of the United States, 1993-1994

Dr. Elders was the first person in the state of Arkansas to become board certified in pediatric endocrinology, the fifteenth Surgeon General of the United States and the first African American, and only the second woman to head the U.S. Public Health Service. Long an outspoken advocate of public health, Dr. Elders was appointed Surgeon General by President Clinton in 1993. In 1996, she wrote her autobiography, Joycelyn Elders, M.D.: From Sharecropper’s Daughter to Surgeon General of the United States of America. Now retired from practice, she is a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine and remains active in public health education.

Mario Capecchi, Ph.D.

Science Director, National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists
Winner, 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Winner, 2003 Wolf Prize in Medicine
Winner, 2001 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
Recipient, 2001 National Medal of Science

Dr. Capecchi, a biophysicist, is a Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He is best known for his groundbreaking work in gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem cells. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine, along with Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies, for their work in finding ways to manipulate the mammalian genome by inserting new genes into cells. This research led to the breeding of “knock-out mice” and “knock-in mice,” animals with a single gene removed or inserted. His research interests include analysis of early mouse development, neural development in mammals, gene therapy, and production of murine models of human genetic diseases.