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Brunkow, Ramsdell and Sakaguchi Win 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine for Immune Tolerance Breakthroughs

The Nobel jury cited discoveries that revealed how the immune system averts self‑attack through a Foxp3‑driven regulatory program.

Overview

  • The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded the prize to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
  • Key advances spanned Sakaguchi’s 1995 identification of regulatory T cells, Brunkow and Ramsdell’s 2001 Foxp3 mutation finding linked to human IPEX disease, and Sakaguchi’s 2003 proof that Foxp3 controls T‑reg development.
  • The committee said the work has been decisive for understanding why most people avoid severe autoimmune disease and for establishing peripheral tolerance beyond thymic selection.
  • Their findings launched a field driving therapies now in human studies, with more than 200 clinical trials exploring T‑reg–based or related approaches and potential benefits for transplantation and cancer care.
  • The laureates will share 11 million Swedish kronor, with the formal award presentation scheduled for December 10 in Stockholm.