In the mid-1990s, Katalin Karikó was demoted and her pay cut for chasing an idea nobody would fund. Decades later it was inside the first COVID-19 vaccines and won a Nobel Prize. How she knew the no wasn't about the work, and how to tell with yours.
Takeaways
- Katalin Karikó accepted a demotion and a pay cut in the mid-1990s to keep working on messenger RNA; her 2005 work with Drew Weissman became the basis of the first mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and a 2023 Nobel Prize.
- A no usually carries two verdicts: one on the work, one on the position (money, timing, rank). Tell them apart before deciding to quit or push on.
- In a study of nearly 1,200 US junior biomedical scientists, a near miss pushed many out, yet those who stayed produced a larger share of top-cited papers than those who narrowly won. One study, one field; not a promise.
- This week: ask your no three questions — what was rejected, what is your one piece of outside evidence, who is your photocopier person.
Chapters
- Stay, but smaller0:17
- The no that wasn't a verdict1:52
- Two kinds of no4:04
- Same no, different verdict6:31
- Hear it done7:55
- Build yours9:02
- The answer10:51
References
- Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet — Press release: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023(2023)
- Karikó, K., Buckstein, M., Ni, H., & Weissman, D. — Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: The impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA(2005)
- Wang, Y., Jones, B. F., & Wang, D. — Early-career setback and future career impact(2019)
- Karikó, K. — Breaking Through: My Life in Science(2023)
- Yale Scientific Magazine — From "Not Good Enough" to Nobel Prize Winner(2024)
- Inside Higher Ed — Katalin Karikó was demoted by Penn before winning a Nobel(2023)
- Scientific American — Katalin Karikó's Nobel Prize-winning work on mRNA was long ignored—and led to COVID vaccines(2023)
- National Women's History Museum — Kati Karikó
- Frueh, S. (interviewer), Issues in Science and Technology — “You Learn More From Failure—When Things Are Not Working Well.” Interview with Katalin Karikó(2024)