Description
Born on 17 January 1955 in Szolnok, Hungary, Katalin Karikó is a biochemist and the first female Hungarian Nobel Prize winner. Karikó obtained a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Szeged in 1982 and did post-doctoral research at the Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre (BRC) in Szeged until 1985, later continuing this work in the USA at Temple University in Philadelphia and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. From 1989 to 2013, she was an adjunct professor and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). After this, she worked as Vice President of the company BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals and later as Senior Vice President.In 2023, together with Drew Weissman, Karikó was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”. Her other main areas of research include RNA injection into tumours, autoimmune diseases and vaccination against cancer. Karikó received an honorary doctorate from the University of Szeged, is a member of ten academies of sciences and was also awarded the Széchenyi Prize and the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen. In addition to the Nobel Prize, she has received more than 130 Hungarian and international prizes and awards in recognition of her globally significant, ground-breaking work in the field of biochemistry.
The front has the mandatory elements, such as the legend “MAGYARORSZÁG”, the mint mark “BP.”, the date “2024” and the denomination “3000” and “FORINT”. “
