March is National Women’s History Month and in honor of this we would like to recognize the incredible women scientists who have been crucial in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to take time to celebrate the past and present women scientists who have worked tirelessly to advance knowledge on the virus and to combat the spread of COVID-19 worldwide. Some of the efforts put forth by these women started decades earlier, before the pandemic, including the discovery of the human coronavirus in 1964, the therapeutic effects of mRNA in the 1970s and 80s and the current research and development of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Who are these women scientists and what have they done to help with the pandemic?
June Hart Almeida, Virologist, a lab technician who never attended college and yet went on to discover a new human virus causing cold-like symptoms in the 1960s. Because the surface of the virus contained “crown-like” projections, Almeida and other scientists named it “coronavirus”, the word “corona” means crown in Latin. Almeida did the majority of her work in Canada at the Ontario Cancer Institute using the then new electron microscope to create detailed pictures of human cells. When a new respiratory disease appeared in China in late 2019, researchers used Almeida’s ground-breaking work to identify the cause as a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.
Katalin Kariko, a scientist who began her career in Hungry in the 1970s. Kariko’s research, which focused on the therapeutic possibilities of mRNA were paramount in the development of the Covid-19 vaccine. Initially, because her work claiming mRNA could be used to fight disease was very radical, she encountered many obstacles and lacked financial support. Kariko persisted and along with her colleague, Drew Weissman developed the method of utilizing mRNA to fight disease. That finding is now the basis of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Kizzmekia Corbett, Phd, is a senior research fellow and the lead of the COVID-19 vaccine development team at the National Institutes of Health. Kizzmekia has been instrumental in the development of the mRNA Moderna Covid-19 vaccine and the Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody treatment. In this year’s Time’s 100 List, Dr. Fauci praised Ms. Corbett as a “rising star” whose work on the Moderna vaccine will have a huge impact on ending the worst respiratory disease pandemic this generation has ever seen. Ms. Corbett has also been instrumental in promoting the Covid-19 vaccine in communities of color, where individuals are skeptical about being vaccinated.
Ozlem Tureci, is an entrepreneur, scientist and physician who is the co-founder of the German biotechnology company BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer in producing their COVID-19 vaccine. This was the first mRNA approved vaccine for use to combat Covid-19 and brought hope and the idea of ending the pandemic to the world. Tureci shared in an interview that one of the biggest challenges her small company had early on was in conducting large scale trials to test the vaccine efficacy and the task of ramping up vaccine production for global distribution. Tureci also commented that bringing a vaccine to market is a rigid process that requires collaboration and cooperation among many organizations. According to Tureci, it took boldness, dreaming big and a trust in the company’s team to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.
These women scientists deserve to be applauded for their intelligence, tenacity and perseverance in working to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Their contributions have truly impacted the world and have shown that groups, agencies and countries can work together to accomplish extraordinary things.
References:
https://time.com/5939731/how-we-chose-2021-time100-next/
https://abc7chicago.com/covid-vaccine-biontech-founder-ozlem-tureci-pfizer/10432958/