The Prize’s 45th session recognizes COVID 19 Vaccine Developers, Nanotechnology Scientists, and eminent figures in each of its Arabic Language & Literature, Islamic Studies, and Service to Islam categories
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Jan 5 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Two women scientists were announced King Faisal Prize for Medicine and Science laureates for 2023: a Covid-19 vaccine developer and a nanotechnology scientist. Six others were announced King Faisal Prize laureates for having enriched humanity with key and invaluable achievements and discoveries in the fields of Medicine, Science, Arabic Language & Literature, Islamic Studies, and Serving Islam.The woman behind Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Professor Sarah Gilbert, the Saïd Chair of Vaccinology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University, was selected to receive King Faisal Prize in medicine. She has co-created the vaccine which has been in use in more than 180 countries saving billions of lives due to its efficiency, low cost and accessibility.
The vaccine is called “ChAdOx1 nCoV-19” and was achieved in 10 months of work using a novel approach. Instead of the traditional vaccines’ method which uses a weakened or killed form of the original infection and requires a long time to develop in the human body, Gilbert genetically modified a weakened version of a common virus which caused a cold in chimpanzees to be injected in humans without causing an infection. This modified virus became the essence of the vaccine developed by Dr. Gilbert against coronavirus carrying the genetic instructions for the coronavirus spike protein. When entering the body cells, the virus uses a genetic code or instructions to produce the specific surface spike protein of the coronavirus inducing an immune response and preparing the immune system to attack coronavirus if it infects the body.
Dr. Gilbert’s innovative vaccine technologies used lately for COVID-19 were also applied by her to Malaria, Ebola, Influenza, and MERS, with clinical trials of the latter taking place in the UK and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She also worked on developing a medicine for it. In fact, the patented ChAdOx1 technology was developed by Dr. Gilbert and other researchers at the University of Oxford in 2012. In 2014, she led the first trial of an Ebola vaccine after a large outbreak of the disease in West Africa. It was because of the ChAdOx1 technology and her accumulated research that the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was produced so quickly.
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