Nobel Prize in Medicine Goes to Three Scientists for Work on Human Immune System

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance, Kostya Manenkov, Lauran Neergaard, Mari Yamaguchi, Lindsey Wasson, Stefanie Dazio, and David Keyton reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The award, officially known as the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is the first of the 2025 Nobel Prize announcements. (Illustration: Niklas Elmehed, Nobel Prize Facebook) 

Brunkow, 64, is a senior program manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. Ramsdell, also 64, is a scientific adviser for Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco.

Sakaguchi, 74, is a distinguished professor at the Immunology Frontier Research Center at Osaka University in Japan.

“Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases,” said Olle Kämpe, chair of the Nobel Committee.

The award, officially known as the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is the first of the 2025 Nobel Prize announcements and was revealed by a panel at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.