Pope Francis names Katalin Kariko as member of Pontifical Academy for Life

Written by BT/MTI

Pope Francis has appointed Nobel Laureate Katalin Kariko as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy for Life (Pontificia Accademia per la Vita), the Holy See Press Office said on Saturday.

The announcement noted that Katalin Kariko’s scientific research led to the development of the mRNA-based vaccine against Covid-19, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023.

The Pontifical Academy for Life was founded in 1994 and deals with bioethical issues, the focus of which is the protection of life. The academy consists of a maximum of seventy members, who are appointed by the Pope for five years.

Kariko has been awarded numerous prestigious domestic and foreign awards for her work, and in 2020 she received the Public Media’s Person of the Year Award for the first time.