Cancer Patients Treated with Immunotherapy Can Safely Receive mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines, According to JNCCN Study

New research published in the October 2022 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network confirms the safety of mRNA vaccines in people with cancer undergoing immunotherapy treatment.

Modified nucleotides used in COVID-19 vaccines work as designed

The remarkable effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 has generated much interest in synthetic mRNA therapeutics for treating and preventing disease. But some basic science questions have remained about whether the modified nucleotides used in the vaccines faithfully produce the protein products that they are designed to make.

No association found between mRNA vaccines and severe cardiovascular events

A case-series study has found that adenoviral-based vaccines may be associated with increased risk for myocardial infarction (MI) and pulmonary embolism (PE). No association between mRNA vaccines and severe cardiovascular incidence was found in the short term. Myocarditis and pericarditis were not included in the study. Risk for The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Show Robust T-Cell Responses to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

New research shows that Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients undergoing anti-CD20 (aCD20) treatment – which depletes the B cells that contribute to the MS attacks – are able to mount robust T-cell responses to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, despite having a muted antibody response to the vaccines.

2022 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Awarded to Penn Medicine mRNA Pioneers Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó

PHILADELPHIA – It was a scientific discovery 16 years ago that paved the way for creation of lifesaving vaccines when the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe in 2020. Now, the two Penn Medicine researchers behind the findings are again being recognized for their innovative and monumental work, which has ushered in a new era of vaccine technology.

Penn mRNA Researchers Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó Awarded the 2021 Albany Prize

PHILADELPHIA – For their landmark research that set a foundation for the mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research, and Katalin Karikó;, PhD, an adjunct professor of Neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior vice president at BioNTech, have been selected to receive the 2021 Albany Prize.

Chula Innovations for Society to Fight COVID-19

Chulalongkorn University has taken a bold step in commutating its transformation to an innovation-centric university with its “Innovations for Society” campaign. The campaign uses a short movie to inform the public about the various innovations that Chula has successfully developed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of Chula’s mission to play a leading role in “Creating Knowledge and Innovation to Promote Sustainable Development for Society”.