Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show Dr. Drew Weissman, MD, PhD - 2023 Nobel Laureate in Medicine; Director, Penn Institute for RNA Innovation - Advancing The Development Of Targeted mRNA And Nanomedicine Therapeutics
Dr. Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D., ( https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p20322 ) is a 2023 Nobel Laureate in Medicine ( https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/summary/ ), Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and Director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation ( https://rnainnovation.med.upenn.edu/ ). He is also a Professor in the Department of Medicine and Director of Vaccine Research in the Infectious Diseases Division at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania ( https://www.pennmedicine.org/providers/profile/drew-weissman ). Dr. Weissman is a physician-scientist and pioneer in the science of immunology, with major contributions to the field. Most notably, Dr. Weissman, and his colleagues discovered a novel nucleoside-modified mRNA platform that bypasses adverse immunologic response, which was the result of decades-long dedication and research, not just focused on modifying mRNA, but also developing a novel lipid nanoparticle delivery technique, ensuring that it could reach the proper part of the body and trigger the immune system to fight disease. This platform not only serves as the basis for the burgeoning research of targeted therapeutics for some of the world’s most devastating diseases, but paved the way for the first mRNA vaccines, being the critical backbone to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Dr. Weissman and his lab team ( https://www.med.upenn.edu/weissmanlab/ ) continue to conduct basic science research to understand and develop new nucleoside-modified mRNA platforms to advance effective and safe vaccines for different types of diseases, as well as new therapeutics. Dr. Weissman and his team are currently at work on a variety of novel projects such as a pan-coronavirus vaccine to stop the next coronavirus epidemic, a universal flu vaccine, and a vaccine to prevent herpes, as well as working with Penn colleagues to develop interventions in various non-communicable diseases, such as cancer therapeutics with mRNA technology. Dr. Weissman's lab is also developing a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine with Chulalongkorn University in Thailand to help residents of Thailand and other surrounding nations with fewer financial resources than the United States access lifesaving vaccines. Before joining Penn in 1997, Dr. Weissman was a fellow at the National Institutes of Health studying HIV in the immunoregulation lab of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Dr. Weissman received his bachelor's degree and master's degree from Brandeis University, majoring in biochemistry and enzymology, and earned his MD and PhD working in immunology and microbiology at Boston University and completed his residency at Beth Israel Hospital.