No matter how old you get, at the end of the day, there are only two people you likely want to call when you have good news. After all, the important moments in life are better when you can share them with the ones you love. So when a newly-minted Nobel Prize winner learned about his win, he did what any 64-year-old would do – he rang up his mom and dad.
Drew Weissman, along with his partner, Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for helping to develop the mRNA vaccines for Covid-19. Knowing how much the moment mattered, Drew filmed as he called his parents, Adele, 90, and Hal, 91. “I have some news,” he said. “I won the Nobel Prize.”
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His parents immediately erupted in surprise. “You’re kidding! Congratulations!” his father said. “Oh my god, Drew! Oh my god!” his mother yelled. “Oh, how fabulous! I don’t know what to say, I’m ready to fall on the floor,” she continued, while Drew smiles.
Drew told reporters that when he was five, his parents had visited the Nobel auditorium in Stockholm, Sweden, where the prize is awarded to winners. While there, they pointed at two seats, telling others, “reserve those seats for us.” “And they remember that story and would tell us every so often. So it was always on their minds,” he said.
As the call winded up, Adele teased her son, reminding him how he said that wouldn’t win the prize. “You did it! And so young!” she cheered. “Congratulations, and you deserved it.” In another video, Drew said that the Nobel Prize was the “most important award that a scientist can achieve.” “It’s an incredible honor,” he said.
Dr. Drew Weissman calling his parents to break the news that he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for developing the mRNA vaccine for COVID-19. Photo by Penn Medicine
According to Penn Medicine, where Drew and Katalin work, the pair met by a stroke of luck in the 1990s and “began investigating mRNA as a potential therapeutic.” In 2005, the pair discovered messenger RNA “could be modified and delivered effectively into the body to activate a protective immune response,” Penn said in a statement. “Fifteen years later when the pandemic struck, this breakthrough proved invaluable by allowing for the rapid development of mRNA COVID vaccines.
Drew says that all of his success is due to his parents allowing him to grow up in a household that “always had an interest in learning.” His parents, he said, always showed “incredible support” throughout his career, and their love helped push him toward his Nobel Prize win. “Drew, you are the product of our hearts,” his mom told him, at the end of the call. He just smiled. What loving and encouraging parents! To hear their heartwarming phone call, watch below.
