The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “
for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body."
The three immunologists' work on peripheral tolerance has revolutionized understanding of immune balance and inspired new treatments for autoimmune diseases, transplants, and cancer.
Mary E. Brunkow (b. 1961, USA), a Princeton Ph.D., mapped genetic factors in autoimmune disorders and now leads integrative health projects at the Institute for Systems Biology.
Fred Ramsdell (b. 1960, USA), with a Ph.D. from UCLA, pinpointed a key gene variant linked to autoimmunity in the 2000s. He now advises Sonoma Biotherapeutics on translating research into therapies.
Shimon Sakaguchi (b. 1951, Japan), a Kyoto University-trained immunologist, identified regulatory T cells in the 1990s, revealing their role in suppressing harmful immune responses. He is a Distinguished Professor at Osaka University.
The Nobel Prize amount of 11 million Swedish kronor will be divided equally among the three recipients.
Last year’s recipients were Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.
Medicine is the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year. It will be followed in the coming days by announcements for prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Literature, Peace and Economics.
For more information and resources:
https://www.nobelprize.org/