Uğur Şahin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Uğur Şahin
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Şahin in 2019
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| Born | 19 September 1965 İskenderun, Hatay Province, Turkey
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| Citizenship | Germany, Turkey |
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| Occupation | Oncologist, immunologist |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Known for | |
| Office | CEO BioNTech SE |
| Term | 2008–present |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 1 |
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Uğur Şahin (born 19 September 1965) is a German doctor who specializes in oncology (cancer treatment) and immunology (the study of the body's defense system). He is famous for co-founding BioNTech. This company helped create one of the main vaccines used to fight COVID-19.
Şahin's family moved from Turkey to Germany when he was four years old. He grew up in Cologne. He later studied medicine at the University of Cologne. He earned a special degree for his work on using the body's immune system to fight cancer.
He worked as a doctor and researcher at different hospitals. In 2000, he started a research group. By 2006, he became a professor. In 2001, Şahin and his wife, Özlem Türeci, started two drug companies. The second company, BioNTech, worked with Pfizer Inc to make a key vaccine for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Because of BioNTech's success, Şahin and Türeci became some of the richest people in Germany.
Contents
About Uğur Şahin
Early Life and Family
Uğur Şahin was born on 19 September 1965 in İskenderun, Turkey. When he was four, he moved to Germany with his mother. They joined his father, who worked at a Ford factory in Cologne.
As a child, Şahin loved soccer and reading science books. He often borrowed books from the library. His first teacher thought he should go to a school that would not lead to university. But thanks to a German neighbor, he went to a different school called a gymnasium. He studied advanced math and chemistry. He was the first child from a Turkish immigrant family at his school to graduate in 1984.
Şahin met his future wife, Özlem Türeci, while working at a hospital in Homburg. She was finishing her medical studies there. They got married in 2002. Four years later, they had a daughter.
Education and Studies
Şahin studied medicine at the University of Cologne from 1984 to 1992. He earned his doctorate degree in 1992. His research was about using the immune system to fight cancer cells. He received the highest possible grade for his work. From 1992 to 1994, he also studied mathematics.
His Career and Discoveries
Şahin worked as a doctor specializing in internal medicine and cancer treatment from 1991 to 2000. He worked at hospitals in Cologne and Homburg. In 2000, he spent a year researching in Zürich. Then, in 2001, he joined the University Medical Center Mainz.
Since 2001, he has held important roles in cancer research. In 2006, he became a professor there. Şahin sees himself as an "immune engineer." This means he tries to use the body's own defense systems to fight diseases like cancer. His goal is to guide the immune system to "protect us from or lessen certain diseases."
Work at Mainz University
In 2000, Şahin became a research group leader at the University Medical Center Mainz. In 2003, he became the head of the Tumor Vaccine Center. He was an Associate Professor from 2006 to 2013. Since 2014, he has been a full professor.
Şahin also helps lead the University Center for Tumor Diseases Mainz (UCT Mainz). This center brings together all the groups at the university that work on cancer treatment and research. In 2017, he helped start a new research center called HI-TRON. Şahin believes that "cancer can be defeated in the future."
- Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center (TRON)
In 2010, Şahin helped start TRON. This is a non-profit research center. It works on new ways to find and treat cancer and other serious diseases. TRON focuses on personalized medicine. This means treatments are made for each patient's unique needs. For his work here, Şahin received the German Cancer Award. He was TRON's scientific director until 2019. Now, he is a scientific advisor.
Ganymed Pharmaceuticals
In 2001, Şahin, his wife Özlem Türeci, and their mentor Christoph Huber started Ganymed Pharmaceuticals. This company developed a drug called Zolbetuximab. It is used to fight stomach and throat cancer. In 2016, the company was sold for over 400 million Euros. This happened after studies showed the drug helped patients with advanced stomach cancer live longer.
BioNTech and the COVID-19 Vaccine
In 2008, Şahin, Özlem Türeci, and Christoph Huber founded BioNTech. This biotechnology company is in Mainz, Germany. Şahin is its CEO. BioNTech focuses on creating special treatments for cancer and other serious illnesses. These treatments are often made for each patient.
His main research at BioNTech is on drugs based on mRNA. These drugs can be used as personalized cancer treatments. They can also be used as vaccines against infectious diseases. Since April 2020, BioNTech has been working on a vaccine for COVID-19. Şahin and Türeci led this effort.
Şahin believes that fighting COVID-19 needs global teamwork. He said that a vaccine should be available to all countries, not just a few. He also believes that vaccination should be a choice, not forced.
In 2020, BioNTech partnered with the U.S. company Pfizer. They planned to get approval for a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year. In November, they announced that their vaccine, BNT162b2, was 95 percent effective.
His Research Work
Şahin and his wife, Özlem Türeci, have worked together since 1992. Their early research focused on finding new targets for cancer immunotherapy. They found important targets for many cancers, including stomach, breast, and lung cancer.
Şahin and his team also found ways to make mRNA vaccines better. They learned how to change the mRNA molecules. They also found better ways to deliver the mRNA into the body. By combining these improvements, they made mRNA vaccines much more powerful. Şahin successfully used mRNA for treatments in humans.
mRNA Vaccines for Cancer
One important area of Şahin's work is creating mRNA vaccines for personalized cancer treatment. This technology targets unique changes (mutations) found only in a patient's tumor cells. Since mRNA vaccines can be easily designed for any target, his team can create a special vaccine for each patient. This vaccine is made to fight that patient's specific cancer mutations.
mRNA Vaccines for Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune diseases happen when the body's immune system attacks its own healthy cells. Şahin and his team developed a new way to treat these diseases. They use a special type of mRNA vaccine. This vaccine helps train the immune system to stop attacking healthy cells. In studies on mice, this new vaccine helped delay and reduce the severity of a disease similar to multiple sclerosis.
mRNA Vaccine Against COVID-19
In January 2020, Şahin and his teams quickly shifted their focus from cancer to developing a COVID-19 vaccine. They used their advanced mRNA technology. This allowed them to create and test many vaccine candidates at the same time.
The BNT162b2 was found to be the best vaccine for preventing COVID-19. This vaccine uses a special mRNA molecule inside tiny fat particles. It tells the body to make a part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, called the spike protein. This helps the immune system learn to fight the real virus.
Studies showed that the BNT162b2 vaccine was very effective and safe. It became the first mRNA drug approved for human use. It was also the fastest vaccine ever developed against a new disease.
Awards and Recognition
Şahin has received many awards for his important work. Here are some of them:
- 1995: Merit Award of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
- 2005: Georges Köhler Prize
- 2019: Mustafa Prize
- 2019: German Cancer Award
- 2020: Financial Times Person of the Year
- 2021: Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2021: Princess of Asturias Award in Scientific Research
- 2021: German Future Prize
- 2022: Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, Germany's top medical award
- 2022: Louis-Jeantet Prize (with Özlem Türeci and Katalin Karikó)
- 2022: Werner-von-Siemens-Ring (with Özlem Türeci, Katalin Karikó, and Christoph Huber)
- 2022: Honorary citizenship of Mainz (with Özlem Türeci)
Images for kids
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Uğur Şahin's signature
See also
In Spanish: Uğur Şahin para niños
