Özlem Türeci facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Özlem Türeci
Özlem Türeci in 2019
Born	(1967-03-06) 6 March 1967 (age 58) Siegen, West Germany
Citizenship	Germany
Alma mater	Saarland University
Occupation	Physician, scientist, entrepreneur
Years active	1992–present
Known for	BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine
Office	Chief Medical Officer of BioNTech SE
Term	2018–present
Spouse(s)	Uğur Şahin ​ (m. 2002)​
Children	1
Awards	Princess of Asturias Awards Georges Köhler Prize Werner von Siemens Ring Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize Prix Jeantet-Collen for Translational Medicine (2022)

Özlem Türeci (born 6 March 1967) is a German physician, scientist, and business leader. In 2008, she helped start the biotechnology company BioNTech. In 2020, this company created the first messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine approved to fight COVID-19.

Since 2018, Türeci has been BioNTech's main medical officer. She also became a professor at the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 2021. Türeci and her husband, Uğur Şahin, have received many awards for their important work.

About Her Life and Learning

Özlem Türeci was born in Siegen, West Germany, in 1967. Her parents were immigrants from Turkey. Her mother was a biologist, and her father was a surgeon from Istanbul. He worked at a Catholic hospital in Lastrup. As a child, Özlem was inspired by the nuns who helped people at her father's hospital.

She studied medicine at Saarland University in Homburg. In 1992, she earned her doctorate degree. Her early research focused on finding and understanding molecules linked to cancer cells. She also worked on developing treatments that use the body's own immune system to fight cancer. In 2002, she completed more advanced studies in molecular medicine at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.

During her last year of studies, Türeci met her future husband, Uğur Şahin. They both shared an interest in using the immune system to fight cancer. They got married in 2002 and had a daughter four years later. Even though Türeci and her husband became very wealthy from their businesses, they still live a simple life.

In March 2022, Türeci was made an honorary citizen of Mainz. This means the city recognized her as a very important person.

Her Work

Türeci works as a medical scientist and researcher in immunology. She looks for specific targets in the body to create new ways to treat cancer, infections, and diseases of the immune and nervous systems. A key part of her work is finding unique molecules in tumors. This helps her develop special treatments for each patient.

At University Medicine Mainz

Türeci worked at the University Medical Center Mainz [de]. Since 2002, she has taught about cancer immunotherapy there. With her husband and their mentor, Christoph Huber, she helped create TRON in 2001. TRON is a biopharmaceutical research institute. It develops new ways to find and treat cancer and other serious diseases.

Two companies that Türeci and her husband later started grew out of the work done at the university in Mainz. In late 2021, Türeci became a professor of "Personalized Immunotherapy" at the University Medicine of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. She also works at the Helmholtz Institute "HI-TRON Mainz."

Ganymed Pharmaceuticals

In 2001, Türeci and her husband founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals. This company focused on a new type of cancer medicine called monoclonal antibodies. They developed a drug called zolbetuximab, which is used to treat esophageal and stomach cancer. Türeci was the chief scientific officer from 2001 to 2008. She then led the company as chief executive officer from 2008 to 2016. In 2016, the company was sold for $1.4 billion.

BioNTech

Headquarters of BioNTech in Mainz

In 2008, Türeci, her husband, and Christoph Huber started BioNTech in Mainz. The name means "Biopharmaceutical New Technologies." Türeci has been the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the company since 2018. In this role, she leads the company's clinical research and development.

BioNTech first focused on creating special immunotherapies using Messenger RNA (mRNA) and other methods. Their goal was to create treatments for cancer and other serious diseases that were made just for each patient. They hired Katalin Karikó, who found a way to use mRNA without causing a strong reaction in the body.

Project Lightspeed – Developing the COVID-19 Vaccine

Türeci and Uğur Şahin at an honorary doctorate ceremony in 2021

In January 2020, Türeci's husband read an article about a novel coronavirus. They worried that a pandemic might be coming. So, they decided to use their mRNA vaccine technology, which they had been researching for 20 years. They wanted to develop a vaccine against the disease, which was spreading in China.

They convinced the American company Pfizer to help with the costs of development and distribution. By March 2020, they had five possible vaccines ready to test in people. By November 2020, tests showed that their vaccine was more than 90% effective. The next month, the vaccine was approved for use in Britain and the United States. The first patient received the vaccine in a hospital in Coventry. By February 2021, BioNTech planned to make 2 billion doses of their vaccine by the end of that year.

Türeci was in charge of the clinical trials for the vaccine, known as BNT162b2 (the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID‑19 vaccine). She believes the project's quick success was partly due to teamwork with companies like Pfizer and Fosun Pharma from China. BioNTech itself has employees from 60 different countries.

Türeci and her husband were named Financial Times People of the Year for 2020. This was because they created a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year. This achievement was called "one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of our time." They also appeared on the cover of Time magazine in January 2021.

New Goals

Using the money from the successful vaccine, BioNTech still plans to work on its first goal. This goal is to create an mRNA-based cancer vaccine. Türeci said in March 2021 that the company had several cancer vaccines. They hoped to offer them to patients within two years. Their aim is to create special treatments for each patient. So far, they have treated over 440 patients with 17 types of tumors.

BioNTech is also working on an mRNA vaccine to prevent malaria. They are also looking into making vaccines in Africa.

Other Work

Türeci has applied for more than 500 international patents. She has also published over 110 articles in scientific journals. She often gives talks around the world.

Groups She Works With

• German Top Research Cluster for Individualized Immune Intervention (Ci3): She helped start this group in 2011 and has been its chair since then.
• Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT): This is the largest European group for cancer immunotherapy. She has been its president since 2019.
• She is also a member of other important medical and scientific groups. These include the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Recognition and Awards

Türeci and her husband were named Financial Times People of the Year for 2020. This was because they created a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine very quickly. This was called "one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of our time." They also appeared on the cover of Time magazine in January 2021.

In March 2022, Türeci was made an honorary citizen of Mainz. She was also chosen to be part of an important meeting to elect the German President in 2022.

On March 29, 2023, Türeci was invited to a special dinner hosted by the German President. This dinner was in honor of King Charles III.

Special Degrees

• 2021: Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne (with Uğur Şahin)
• 2022: Honorary doctorate from Philipps-Universität Marburg (with Uğur Şahin)
• 2022: Honorary doctorate from University of Amsterdam (with Uğur Şahin)
• 2022: Honorary doctorate from University of Antwerp (with Uğur Şahin)

Awards She Has Won

See also

In Spanish: Özlem Türeci para niños

• RNA vaccine
• BNT162b2, COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer BioNtech
• Turks in Germany
• Katalin Karikó