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Brunkow, Ramsdell and Sakaguchi Awarded 2025 Nobel in Medicine for Immune Tolerance Discoveries

The laureates revealed how regulatory T cells controlled by Foxp3 prevent self‑destruction by the immune system.

Fred Ramsdell of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, poses in an undated photograph. Sonoma Biotherapeutics/Handout via REUTERS.
The Nobel Prize in Medicine Goes to 3 Scientists for Work on the Human Immune System
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Overview

  • The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet honored Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
  • Sakaguchi identified regulatory T cells in 1995, Brunkow and Ramsdell uncovered a Foxp3 gene mutation linked to autoimmunity in 2001, and later studies showed Foxp3 governs T‑reg development.
  • Their findings explained a key peripheral mechanism that prevents immune cells from attacking the body’s own tissues, expanding understanding beyond thymus‑based central tolerance.
  • The committee said the work launched the field of peripheral tolerance and is informing treatments for autoimmune diseases, cancer and transplantation, with several approaches in clinical trials.
  • The winners will share 11 million Swedish kronor, with prizes to be presented in Stockholm on December 10, as committee chair Olle Kämpe called the discoveries decisive for understanding immune function.