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Vaccination has perhaps been the most significant advance in the history of medicine. Smallpox, a deadly disease, has been totally eradicated, while polio, mumps, measles and rubella have been effectively curbed. The development of vaccines makes for a fascinating story exemplified by the path that led to the introduction of the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine. As is often the case with research, serendipity, rejection, grit and determination all played a role in forging that path culminating in the awarding of a Nobel Prize to Dr. Drew Weissman and colleague Dr. Katalin Kariko.
Symposium Schedule
Tuesday, October 21st, 2025
7:00pm ET: Symposium with Dr. Drew Weissman
Location: 91黑料网, Leacock Building - Room 132听(attached to the 91黑料网 Arts Building) - 855 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T7
When looking at 91黑料网 through the Roddick Gates from Sherbrooke Street, you see the Arts Building, which is attached to the Leacock Building.
The Leacock Building can be accessed via the Roddick Gates on Sherbrooke, the gate on McTavish, or through the Milton Gates (University and Milton).
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Our Speaker
Dr. Drew Weissman | "Serendipity, Rejection, Grit and Determination鈥擳he Genesis of the Covid Vaccine and the Path to the Nobel"
The path to success is never a straight shot鈥攊t鈥檚 paved with occasional potholes and many unexpected detours. The trick is to not allow the 鈥渂umps鈥� along the way to stifle one's curiosity or extinguish one's passion. Even perceived failures inform next steps and every now and then the road offers up something magical and unexpected. Dr. Weissman's story began with a fiercely innate curiosity about the world in which he was surrounded. This curiosity fuelled his interest in science and he spent decades in obscurity, toiling away at a lab bench. What put Dr. Weissman on the road to the formulation of a world-wide life-saving vaccine and the Nobel? Luck? Grit? Or a little of both?
Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, is the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation at the Perelman School of Medicine. He is recognized for his work alongside Katalin Karik贸 in discovering the modified mRNA technology, which has launched a new era of vaccine and therapeutic development.
Their mRNA research breakthrough has been used in both the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines and has revolutionized the field of vaccine development. Dr. Weissman鈥檚 current research focuses on developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine to stop the next coronavirus epidemic, a universal flu vaccine, cancer therapeutics, a vaccine to prevent herpes, as well as developing in vivo gene therapy to allow worldwide use and a variety of protein therapeutics delivered with mRNA-LNPs. He has recently expanded his efforts in building scientific and medical equity and is developing the full RNA-LNP ecosystem of development, testing, and use in low- and middle-income countries.
Dr. Weissman earned bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in biochemistry and enzymology from Brandeis University in 1981 and his M.D. and Ph.D. in immunology and microbiology in 1987 at Boston University School of Medicine. Following a residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, he took a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he worked with Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Dr. Weissman holds many patents and has published over 400 papers. He has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, and the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.
