Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman on Monday were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on messenger RNA, which allowed for the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
- California: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Sunday announced that Laphonza Butler, a former advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris and current president of EMILY's List, has been named to fill the seat of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who died on Friday at the age of 90. Butler will step down as president of EMILY's List. "As we mourn the enormous loss of Sen. Feinstein, the very freedoms she fought for — reproductive freedom, equal protection, and safety from gun violence — have never been under greater assault," Newsom said. "Laphonza has spent her entire career fighting for women and girls and has been a fierce advocate for working people." (Fortinsky, The Hill, 10/2)
- North Carolina: Gov. Roy Cooper (D) last week announced that Medicaid expansion in North Carolina will launch on Dec. 1, making government health insurance available to an additional 600,000 low-income adults. "This has been an unnecessarily long and agonizing journey for many North Carolinians," Cooper said at a press conference. "But today, the hope that has stirred in so many across our state will become a reality." (Robertson, Associated Press, 9/25)
- Pennsylvania: Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman on Monday were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on messenger RNA, which allowed for the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Karikó is a biochemist and Weissman is an immunologist. Both performed their research on how mRNA interacts with the immune system at the University of Pennsylvania, where Weissman is currently a professor in vaccine research and Karikó is an adjunct professor at the Perelman School of Medicine. The approach to mRNA developed by Karikó and Weissman has been used in COVID-19 vaccines around the world and their work has "contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times," according to the Nobel Prize panel. (Joseph, STAT, 10/2; Mueller and Kolata, New York Times, 10/2; Bressner, Axios, 10/2)
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