How will know when your work is leading to a discovery that can help improve and save the lives of millions, and what does it take to persevere through the obstacles in achieving that work? This special epsiode looks at what happens when chocolate and peanut butter meet and greatness occurs. Our guests are the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipients Dr. Katalin Karikó, PhD, and Dr. Drew Weissman, MD, PhD. Their discoveries lead to develop of an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 and opens the door to new ways to manage disease through new approaches to vaccine development, immunology, and more. Dr. Karikó is an adjunct professor of Neurosurgery in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, and has recently published her memoir "Breaking Through: My Life in Science". Dr. Drew Weissman is the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research in the Perelman School of Medicine, the Director of Vaccine Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Director of the Institute for RNA Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania.

Alongside host Meryl Cohen, the Nobel Prize winners share how they got started in science and recount the trajectory that led them to today. They share how passion and curiosity are the ultimate driving force agains thte failure and rejection that research brings, look ahead to how the science they've research can be used to innovate medicine in the future, and share the surreal experience of getting the call that they've won the Nobel prize. This is a can't miss episode for anyone interested in science, academic medicine, or even those curious to know the people behind one of the most notable scientific innovations of our time.