Michael Allen

Via Zoom – Please contact Gail Larose at glarose0@gmail.com for Zoom link details.

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 

7pm ET

Katalin Karikó – her rise from obscurity to work on a COVID vaccine and the Nobel Prize for Medicine

From a mud-walled cottage in Hungary to the Nobel Prize stage, Katalin Karikó’s journey is one of dogged persistence. Though many were skeptical, her breakthrough in messenger RNA technology became the cornerstone of the COVID-19 vaccine, saving millions of lives. Michael Allen will relate the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine and Katalin Karikó’s personal story—one that involves raising an Olympic champion and the pivotal role of a 900-pound teddy bear.

Michael Allen worked as a family physician in Nova Scotia for 17 years before joining Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine in 1994.  He retired in 2022 as a full professor in the Faculty’s Department of Continuing Professional Development where he was Director of Evidence-based Programs.  In retirement he has been taking courses and reading popular books on mathematics and physics.  He hopes that others will find Katalin Karikó’s story as fascinating as he did.