He was not "one of the early inventors of mRNA vaccines". He admitted as much when pressed on it: https://www.logically.ai/factchecks/library/3aa2eefd The only reason anyone started thinking he _had_ invented the mRNA vaccine was his wife editing his Wikipedia article to claim that he had: https://respectfulinsolence.com/2021/07/13/is-mrna-vaccine-i...
I'd say he was an early pioneer in the field.
BTW Still possible to listen here: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9wb2RmYXJtLnh5ei9...