Guardian article: "Scientists’ egos are key barrier to progress, says Covid vaccine pioneer"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...progress-covid-vaccine-pioneer-katalin-kariko

An article about Prof Katalin Karikó, who pioneered mRNA vaccines, and the skepticism and hardships she faced in academia before joining BioNTech.

Quotes (bolding mine):

Scientists would make swifter progress in solving the world’s problems if they learned to put their egos aside and collaborate better, according to the leading researcher behind the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine.

Prof Katalin Karikó, the senior vice-president for RNA protein replacement therapies at BioNTech in Germany, endured decades of scepticism over her work and was demoted and finally kicked out of her lab while developing the technology that made the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines possible.​

[...]
“If so many people who are in a certain field would come together in a room and forget their names, their egos, their titles, and just think, they would come up with so many solutions for so many things, but all these titles and whatever get in the way,” Karikó told the Guardian.​

[...]
“I always thought who cares? In 100 years nobody will know my name. But titles, promotions, older men, power, it all gets in the way,” she said. It is not exclusively men that prioritise power over progress, she concedes, but “they have had more time to practise wielding power”.​

[...]
“People love to hate big pharma, but these people are so smart,” she said. “When I went from academia to a company, they don’t care how many committees you are on, how many papers you have. What counts is that you have a product that has an effect. The ego is wiped out. It is so much better.”​

 

Yes, because it is the bottom line that counts, product and profit--time matters. In the ivory tower things bumble along slowly for the tenured, from conference to conference.

 

What a remarkable person. Her work and determination have helped save many, many lives.

On the subject of academia, which we have both been involved in, my other half and I were just talking about university research. Hopefully not all of it is repetition, repetition, or frittering away money, or research grants re-directed to admin, or other "worthier" causes, as was done years ago at the CDC with ME research.

We've certainly seen all of that. And, one does wonder why in the world some things are studied in the first place.

Professor Kariko is so right about egos getting in the way of progress. Our community has been gripped by this issue for a very, very long time.

 

What an amazing woman! Do read the full article if you can.