Penn Medicine Provider
About me
- Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research
Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, is a world-renowned physician and researcher at Penn Medicine, best known for his contributions to RNA biology and the COVID-19 vaccines. Weissman and Katalin Karikó, PhD, were jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries that enabled the modified mRNA technology being used in Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's vaccines to prevent COVID-19.
More than 15 years ago at Penn Medicine, Weissman and Karikó found a way to modify mRNA and later developed a delivery technique to package the mRNA in fat droplets called lipid nanoparticles. This ensured that it could reach the proper part of the body and trigger the immune system to fight disease.
These laboratory breakthroughs made mRNA safe, effective, and practical for use as a vaccine against COVID. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine received FDA approval in August 2021, and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized by the FDA for emergency use.
Dr. Weissman and his team are currently at work on a pan-coronavirus vaccine to stop the next coronavirus epidemic, a universal flu vaccine, and a vaccine to prevent herpes. They are working with Penn colleagues to develop cancer therapeutics with mRNA technology. Weissman's lab is also developing a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine with Chulalongkorn University in Thailand to help residents of Thailand and other surrounding nations with fewer financial resources than the United States access lifesaving vaccines.
Before joining Penn in 1997, Weissman was a fellow at the National Institutes of Health studying HIV in the lab of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Weissman received his bachelor's degree and master's degree from Brandeis University. He earned his MD and PhD from Boston University and completed his residency at Beth Israel Hospital.
Read a Q&A with Dr. Weissman about mRNA vaccines
Education and training
- Medical School: Boston University School of Medicine
- Residency: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Fellowship: National Institutes of Health
My Locations
Penn Medicine hospital privileges
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: On the medical staff, but does not have privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Qualifications and experience
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, International
- American Federation for Clinical Research, National
- Association of American Physicians, National
- National Academy of Inventors, National
- National Academy of Medicine, International
- The American Association of Immunologists, National
Treatments and Conditions
My research
Techawiwattanaboon T, Leekitcharoenphon R, Alameh MG, Boonkea S, Sangkanjanavanich N, Nakornpakdee Y, Ajimathorn Y, Prompetchara E, Ketloy C, Buranapraditkun S, Palaga T, Kanthawong S, Heyes J, Weissman D, Ruxrungtham K, Patarakul K. mRNA vaccines targeting Leptospira immunoglobulin-like proteins confer partial protection in a hamster model of leptospirosis , Vaccine, 73: 2026,128099
Bot A, Scharenberg A, Friedman K, Guey L, Hofmeister R, Andorko JI, Klichinsky M, Neumann F, Shah JV, Swayer AJ, Trudeau K, Weissman D, Stephan MT, Buchholz CJ, June CH. In vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy , Nat Rev Drug Discov., 25(2): 2026,116-137
Bot A, Scharenberg A, Friedman K, Guey L, Hofmeister R, Andorko JI, Klichinsky M, Neumann F, Shah JV, Swayer AJ, Trudeau K, Weissman D, Stephan MT, Buchholz CJ, June CH. In vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy , Nat Rev Drug Discov: 2026
O'Brien EM, Tylek T, Geisler HC, Mukalel AJ, Whitaker RC, Sung S, Binder-Markey BI, Weissman D, Mitchell MJ, Spiller KL. Macrophage cell therapy enabled by interleukin-4 mRNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles to sustain a pro-reparative phenotype in inflammatory injuries , Biomaterials: 2026
Page CL, Holbrook BC, Crofts KF, Alameh MG, Davis B, Caudell D, Weissman D, Alexander-Miller MA. An influenza HA mRNA-LNP vaccine induces potent responses in newborn nonhuman primates that enhance protection from challenge , NPJ Vaccines, 11: 2025,2
Gong N, Kim D, Alameh MG, El-Mayta R, Han EL, Dwivedi G, Palanki R, Shi Q, Han X, Xue L, Xu J, Meng Z, Luo T, Figueroa-Espada CG, Weissman D, Li J, Mitchell MJ. Mannich reaction-based combinatorial libraries identify antioxidant ionizable lipids for mRNA delivery with reduced immunogenicity , Nat Biomed Eng. , 9(12): 2025,2181-2195
Nakamichi S, von Muhlinen N, Yamada L, Melamed JR, Papp TE, Parhiz H, Weissman D, Horikawa I, Harris CC. SRSF3 knockdown-induced cellular senescence as a possible therapeutic strategy for non-small cell lung cancer , biorvix, 8: 2025,2025
Nakamichi S, von Muhlinen N, Yamada L, Melamed JR, Papp TE, Parhiz H, Weissman D, Horikawa I, Harris CC. SRSF3 knockdown-induced cellular senescence as a possible therapeutic strategy for non-small cell lung cancer , Carcinogenesis., 46(4): 2025,bgaf082
Nakamichi S, von Muhlinen N, Yamada L, Melamed JR, Papp TE, Parhiz H, Weissman D, Horikawa I, Harris CC. SRSF3 knockdown-induced cellular senescence as a possible therapeutic strategy for non-small cell lung cancer , bioRxiv, 46: 2025,bgaf082
Melamed JR, Muscat-Rivera J, Kegel M, Chaboub LS, Perez-Tremble R, Bhalla NS, Ni H, Sun H, Weissman D. Anionic lipids modulate mRNA-lipid nanoparticle immunogenicity and confer protection in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis , bioRxiv: 2025