Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine
This is the incredible story of the scientists who created a coronavirus vaccine in record time. 
 
In Longshot, investigative journalist David Heath takes readers inside the small group of scientists whose groundbreaking work was once largely dismissed but whose feat will now eclipse the importance of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine in medical history. With never-before-reported details, Heath reveals how these scientists overcame countless obstacles to give the world an unprecedented head start when we needed a COVID-19 vaccine. 
 
The story really begins in the 1990s, with a series of discoveries that were timed perfectly to prepare us for the worst pandemic since 1918. Readers will meet Katalin Karikó, who made it possible to use messenger RNA in vaccines but struggled for years just to hang on to her job. There’s also Derrick Rossi, who leveraged Karikó’s work to found Moderna but was eventually expelled from his company. And then there’s Barney Graham at the National Institutes of Health, who had a career-long obsession with solving the riddle of why two toddlers died in a vaccine trial in 1966,  a tragedy that ultimately led to a critical breakthrough in vaccine science. 
With both foresight and luck, Graham and these other crucial scientists set the course for a coronavirus vaccine years before COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China. The author draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with key players to tell the definitive story about how the race to create the vaccine sparked a revolution in medical science.

1139684265
Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine
This is the incredible story of the scientists who created a coronavirus vaccine in record time. 
 
In Longshot, investigative journalist David Heath takes readers inside the small group of scientists whose groundbreaking work was once largely dismissed but whose feat will now eclipse the importance of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine in medical history. With never-before-reported details, Heath reveals how these scientists overcame countless obstacles to give the world an unprecedented head start when we needed a COVID-19 vaccine. 
 
The story really begins in the 1990s, with a series of discoveries that were timed perfectly to prepare us for the worst pandemic since 1918. Readers will meet Katalin Karikó, who made it possible to use messenger RNA in vaccines but struggled for years just to hang on to her job. There’s also Derrick Rossi, who leveraged Karikó’s work to found Moderna but was eventually expelled from his company. And then there’s Barney Graham at the National Institutes of Health, who had a career-long obsession with solving the riddle of why two toddlers died in a vaccine trial in 1966,  a tragedy that ultimately led to a critical breakthrough in vaccine science. 
With both foresight and luck, Graham and these other crucial scientists set the course for a coronavirus vaccine years before COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China. The author draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with key players to tell the definitive story about how the race to create the vaccine sparked a revolution in medical science.

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Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine

Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine

by David Heath
Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine

Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine

by David Heath

Hardcover

$29.00 
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Overview

This is the incredible story of the scientists who created a coronavirus vaccine in record time. 
 
In Longshot, investigative journalist David Heath takes readers inside the small group of scientists whose groundbreaking work was once largely dismissed but whose feat will now eclipse the importance of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine in medical history. With never-before-reported details, Heath reveals how these scientists overcame countless obstacles to give the world an unprecedented head start when we needed a COVID-19 vaccine. 
 
The story really begins in the 1990s, with a series of discoveries that were timed perfectly to prepare us for the worst pandemic since 1918. Readers will meet Katalin Karikó, who made it possible to use messenger RNA in vaccines but struggled for years just to hang on to her job. There’s also Derrick Rossi, who leveraged Karikó’s work to found Moderna but was eventually expelled from his company. And then there’s Barney Graham at the National Institutes of Health, who had a career-long obsession with solving the riddle of why two toddlers died in a vaccine trial in 1966,  a tragedy that ultimately led to a critical breakthrough in vaccine science. 
With both foresight and luck, Graham and these other crucial scientists set the course for a coronavirus vaccine years before COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China. The author draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with key players to tell the definitive story about how the race to create the vaccine sparked a revolution in medical science.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781546000907
Publisher: Hachette Nashville
Publication date: 01/18/2022
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 9.20(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David Heath is an award-winning investigative journalist. He has worked at several news organizations, including CNN, USA Today, and the Center for Public Integrity. His work has helped to change policies and laws and has even led to criminal indictments. His articles have exposed illegal insider trading in drug research, questionable medical research, and the political influence used to derail tougher toxic-chemical standards. His work has appeared on PBS Frontline, PBS NewsHour, the CBS Evening News, the Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Newsweek, the Daily Beast, Vice News, Scientific American and Mother Jones. He has won more than two dozen national journalism awards, including the Goldsmith, the Gerald Loeb and George Polk. His work with others has been nominated for a national Emmy and he has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize three times. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Ready for a Pandemic 9

Chapter 2 History of Vaccines 21

Chapter 3 The Underrated Scientist 39

Chapter 4 The Collaboration 51

Chapter 5 Scientific Sabotage 75

Chapter 6 Who Founded Moderna? 107

Chapter 7 Enter Stéphane Bancel 123

Chapter 8 Tackling a Childhood Disease 149

Chapter 9 Tragic Trial 157

Chapter 10 Vaccine Research Center 169

Chapter 11 MERS 185

Chapter 12 Zika 195

Chapter 13 The Race 207

Epilogue 231

What Are the Scientists Doing Now? 243

Author's Notes 247

Acknowledgments 249

Endnotes 251

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