We believe there’s a superhero in each of us. True Superheroes celebrates people who’ve overcome adversity, made amazing contributions to society, and inspired others to do the same. Each week we nominate people in different fields. This week we focus on Healthcare.
Katalin Karikó
Covid-19 vaccines only exist because of Katalin Karikó’s persistence. She fought for her entire career, in the face of doubt and ridicule, for the chance to study and develop mRNA vaccines. Her lab’s funding in Hungary was cut so she emigrated to the US with $1,200 hidden in her daughter’s teddy bear, and was then repeatedly denied funding and even demoted as she perfected the techniques that made the Covid vaccine possible. Not one to rest on her laurels, she’s now looking to develop vaccines for other diseases that could save even more lives.
As a child, Sean Parker tried to hack every country on earth and might have succeeded if his dad hadn’t confiscated his keyboard. Instead, he co-founded Napster and joined Facebook in its early days, displaying an uncanny knack for finding the Next Big Thing and changing the way we consume music and communicate. Now he’s using those disruptive skills to find innovative ways to solve arguably the biggest challenge in medicine: a cure for cancer.
Born in wartorn Nigeria in a remote jungle hospital, Bennet Omalu overcame conflict, depression, and low self-esteem to become an established forensic pathologist in Pittsburgh, where he discovered a life-threatening neurodegenerative disease that was affecting retired NFL players. His dogged research - in the face of enormous hostility from authorities and fans alike - has changed the way all contact sports deal with head injuries and is helping the next generation of athletes avoid the terrible consequences of repetitive concussions.
