NDRI celebrated our researchers and partners at the Service to Science Awards Dinner on Wednesday,
September 28, 2022, at the Union League in Philadelphia. We would like to thank all of our sponsors and
attendees for making it a special night.

Watch key highlights from a wonderful night honoring science in the video below:

AWARDEES:

Empowering Research and Discovery Award 

Drew Weissman, MD, PhD and Katalin Kariko, PhD, Dr. Drew Weissman, and Dr. Katalin Karikó, the scientists who led the research and technology development for the therapeutic use of mRNA – the foundation for the COVID vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

Watch their acceptance speech in this video:

Excellence in Research and Patient Advocacy Award

David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, Assistant Professor in the Division of Translational Medicine & Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, the Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN), and National Bestselling author of Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action received the Excellence in Research and Patient Advocacy Award. Dr. Fajgenbaum's work in finding treatments and new cures for deadly disorders like Castleman Disease, which he was diagnosed with during medical school, through a novel approach to research is just part of why he was chosen.

Other Awardees Include:

Empowering Research and Discovery Award Continued

Pfizer, Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development, and Medical of Pfizer.

Moderna, Jacqueline Miller, MD, Senior Vice President, Therapeutic Area Head, Infectious Diseases 

Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Penny Heaton, MD, Global Therapeutic Area Head, Vaccines

Susan Hockfield, PhD, President Emerita, Professor of Neuroscience, and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will receive the organization’s prestigious D. Walter Cohen, DDS Service to Science Award presented in honor of the Philadelphia native, prominent member of the local, national and international scientific community and NDRI chairman emeritus.

Gift of Life Donor Program of Philadelphia (Richard Hasz Jr., MFS, CPTC, President & CEO), the nation's leading organ procurement organization coordinates more organ and tissue donors than anywhere else in the United States. Gift of Life Donor Program has a 44-year long history of saving lives and NDRI’s longest OPO partner with the Legacy Partnership Award.  

Lonza (Jason LoVerdi, MHA, Program Manager, Bioscience at Lonza), a global organization focused on enabling a healthier world by supporting healthcare customers on their path to commercialization, with the Outstanding Life Sciences Industry Leadership Award.