Lessons from a woman who saved the world

Dr. Kaitlin Kariko is the scientist who saved billions of lives through her mRNA works that became the backbone of Pfizer and Moderna’s covid vaccines. Owing to her lifelong dedication to mRNA research, covid vaccines were developed in less than 12 months, in sharp contrast to the typical 5 to 10 years. The world was able to finally come out of covid and get back to normalcy. If Dr. Kariko gave in to what others were saying, that her research was not meaningful, we may still be living in a covid shutdown world at this moment. Thank God, she didn’t.

Dr. Kariko’s Story

I’m inspired by Dr. Kariko as an immigrant and a parent as she embodies resilience, courage and positivity. Dr. Kariko’s story is truly remarkable. She grew up in a small village in Hungary as a daughter of a butcher. In 1985 at age 30, she came to the US with 900 British pounds (about USD 1,200), sewn under her two year old daughter’s teddy bear. She accepted a job as a post-doctoral student at Temple University. Four years later, she joined its neighboring school, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), after a dispute with her boss who threatened to deport her. At UPenn, she stayed in a low academic position for 24 years, failing numerous times to get grants to fund the research. Her bosses at UPenn thought her mRNA research was impractical and she was wasting her time. In the same week she got diagnosed with cancer, she lost her prestigious faculty position. She got demoted and accepted a pay cut. When she left UPenn in 2013 to work as a Senior VP in BioNTech, UPenn still refused to reinstate her to the faculty position. They didn’t think her research was worth a permanent contract or professorship, and didn’t think BioNTech would succeed.

In 2023, at age 68, Dr. Kariko received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work in mRNA. I’m so glad she finally received the recognition that she truly deserves and that we’re learning about her works. Her life story is incredibly inspiring in multiple dimensions. Despite the humiliation of working in a demoted position where she started to also doubt her own self, she did not give up. The whole world seemed to say no, but she stuck around. She stuck around not just for a year or two, but for over two decades. She single-mindedly focused on what she believed in and just kept going and going. Her unwavering dedication was never about money or fame. She had a much higher goal, which was to have just one person achieve a better quality of life from the science she has been working on her entire life. And, she certainly crushed it.

Reflections

How many times have we tried to do something for a few months or a year, and give up? Sure, we do need to try different things to know what we want. The ability to discern what we want to dedicate our life to and focus is really important. Once we find things that we feel truly passionate about (setting aside external rewards such as money or fame) and that will make a positive difference in the world, we should choose everyday to get better at it. We should choose to stick around.

I have been fortunate to get into the graduate school teaching world about a year ago and I’ve been really enjoying it. After doing a few lectures and supporting many classes behind the scenes, I started feeling anxious and impatient. Should’t I be employed as a full-time lecturer somewhere recognizable? Shouldn’t I be making more money? Wait, but would any school hire me who has no Ph.D.? Dr. Kariko’s story is teaching me patience and humility. I have a long way to go in mastering teaching. I’ve only taken the very first few baby steps. I hope that one day, I can inspire a student to better his or her career or life. I choose to believe in myself even when others don’t, and I choose to stick around, just as Dr. Kariko did.

Dr. Kariko also exemplifies how we should parent our kids. Her daughter, Susan Francia is a five times world champion and two times Olympic gold medalist in rowing. Dr. Kariko says she taught her daughter that hard work is part of life, and led by examples. As a parent of a first grader who’s learning to read, I learned how powerful exemplary living is. I learned through many experiments that having my daughter see us read is more motivating for her than anything else. Now, instead of reading when both kids are in bed, I read together with them. If I want my kids to live a life of resilience, curiosity, and optimism, then I will have to live that life myself. Putting my best self forward and doing my best everyday is teaching my kids to live their lives to their fullest.

I’m thankful that we still live in a world where people, who are driven by intrinsic motivations to do good, make monumental breakthroughs and change lives. I hope there will be more stories like Dr. Kariko and feel immensely grateful at how she has touched all our lives.

Sign up to the newsletter to be the first to know when a new blog article is posted.