# Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The **Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine** is an annual international award given for a discovery of major importance in life science or medicine, established under the 1895 will of [Alfred Nobel](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfred-nobel) and awarded since 1901 by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.[1](https://unvis.it/www.nobelprize.org/nomination/medicine) • [2](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/nobel-prize-facts/?source=post_page---------------------------) It is one of the five prizes named in Nobel's will, alongside the prizes in physics, chemistry, literature, and peace, and it is generally regarded as the most prestigious award in healthcare.[3](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1258/jrsm.2011.110081)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Established | Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament on 27 November 1895, naming prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace[2](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/nobel-prize-facts/?source=post_page---------------------------) |
| First awarded | 10 December 1901, in Stockholm[2](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/nobel-prize-facts/?source=post_page---------------------------) |
| Awarding body | The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, made up of 50 professors[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) |
| Criterion | A discovery of major importance in life science or medicine; a specific discovery, not a scientist's career[1](https://unvis.it/www.nobelprize.org/nomination/medicine) • [4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) |
| Announcement | Final vote on the morning of the announcement, the first Monday in October; ceremony on 10 December each year[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) |
| 2025 laureates | Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi, for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance[5](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/press-release/%26nbsp/) |
| Prize amount (2026) | 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million, shared among the laureates[6](https://apnews.com/article/99918d839a742def7ae4b135fc88b5e6) |
## Origin in Nobel's will
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, signed his will on 27 November 1895, directing the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes for those who have done their best for humanity in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace.[2](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/nobel-prize-facts/?source=post_page---------------------------) • [7](https://educationalgames.nobelprize.org/educational/nobelprize_info/gradeschool.html) [Physiology](https://www.edgepedia.org/physiology) or medicine was the third prize area he mentioned in the will.[8](https://www.livescience.com/16342-nobel-prize-medicine-history-list.html) His will stipulated that no consideration be paid to the nationality of the candidate, so that only the most worthy receives the prize.[9](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1950/10/winning-the-nobel-prize/305480/) It took four years for his executors to convince all parties to follow his wishes, and the first prizes were awarded on 10 December 1901, the fifth anniversary of Nobel's death, a date on which the ceremonies are still held.[7](https://educationalgames.nobelprize.org/educational/nobelprize_info/gradeschool.html) • [2](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/nobel-prize-facts/?source=post_page---------------------------) • [6](https://apnews.com/article/99918d839a742def7ae4b135fc88b5e6)
## Selection process
**Who decides.** The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, a body of 50 professors, is responsible for selecting the laureates each year.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) It works from candidates recommended by the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, a working body of roughly 15 people that carries out much of the practical work, with additional experts co-opted as needed.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) • [1](https://unvis.it/www.nobelprize.org/nomination/medicine) [Thomas Perlmann](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-perlmann), professor and secretary of both the Assembly and the Committee since 2016, has described the process as rigorous and deliberately shielded from outside influence.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize)
**The annual cycle.** During autumn, thousands of invitations to nominate candidates are sent to former Nobel Prize winners and professors at medical faculties; only invited researchers may nominate, and the deadline is in January.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) The Committee then evaluates the nominations and submits a proposal to the Assembly, which agrees on a candidate in August or September and holds the final vote on the morning of the announcement, the first Monday in October.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) All nomination documents and evaluations are kept confidential for 50 years, and Assembly members sign non-disclosure agreements.[10](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/07/annual_review_13.pdf) • [4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) In 2010 the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet revealed the winners before the official announcement, after which the Committee tightened its regulations and brought in IT-security experts.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize)
**A specific discovery.** A fundamental rule is to reward a specific discovery rather than a scientist's career, with a clear "before" and "after" in the field.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) Because a discovery's impact is often not visible until 20, 30, or even 40 years have passed, most laureates wait a long time for recognition; [Shinya Yamanaka](https://www.edgepedia.org/shinya-yamanaka) is a noted exception, receiving the 2012 prize for a 2006 discovery on reprogramming specialized cells back into stem cells.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize)
## Scope of "physiology or medicine"
Interpreting the term "physiology or medicine" according to the intentions expressed in Nobel's 1895 will leaves the awarding institution considerable freedom to honor work across a broad biomedical field as well as in clinical medicine, and the prize awarder has on several occasions applied a broad definition.[11](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-1901-2000/) Early prizes recognized work such as research on malaria and the treatment of lupus vulgaris with concentrated light radiation.[12](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/all-nobel-prizes/all/?gallery_style=page) The prize has never been awarded for work in biostatistics or epidemiology, despite repeated nominations of figures such as Bradford Hill and [Richard Doll](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-doll).[13](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12762435/)
## Recent prizes
**2025: peripheral immune tolerance.** The 2025 prize went jointly to [Mary E. Brunkow](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-e-brunkow), [Fred Ramsdell](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-ramsdell), and [Shimon Sakaguchi](https://www.edgepedia.org/shimon-sakaguchi) for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance, the pathway the body uses to keep the immune system from attacking its own cells.[5](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/press-release/%26nbsp/) • [14](https://apnews.com/article/a68cf8a3b930570630168a949d277cde) Working separately, the three identified the importance of regulatory T cells; Sakaguchi later linked the discoveries by showing that the Foxp3 gene controls the development of these cells, which curb overreactive immune cells.[14](https://apnews.com/article/a68cf8a3b930570630168a949d277cde) The Assembly stated that the discoveries launched the field of peripheral tolerance and spurred the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.[5](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/press-release/%26nbsp/)
**2026: optogenetics.** The method makes it possible to identify the neural pathways responsible for behavior and disease, and could lead to treatments such as restoring some vision in people with a genetic form of blindness.[15](https://apnews.com/article/2efe9ee7eae9d808fd49a6da1f53ceba) The 2026 prize money of 12 million Swedish kronor was shared equally among the three laureates.[6](https://apnews.com/article/99918d839a742def7ae4b135fc88b5e6)
## Patterns and criticism
**Shared awards.** Since the 1950s, the prize has most often gone to three people at a time, whereas single laureates were the norm in the century's first fifty years.[16](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11673-010-9248-0.pdf) The three-person limit has drawn criticism for failing to acknowledge collaborative and parallel work, giving a misleading impression of how science is done.[17](https://time.com/6225572/nobel-prizes-problem/)
**Women laureates.** Of the roughly 400 nominations made each year, only about 10 percent are female candidates, and out of the 214 medicine laureates up to 2017, only 12 were women.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) The Committee has revised its invitation wording and sent individual invitations to more women in an effort to widen the pool.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize)
**Controversies and oversights.** The prize's history includes disputed decisions, such as the well-publicized disagreement among the winners of the 1923 prize for the discovery of insulin, and the 1926 prize given to [Johannes Fibiger](https://www.edgepedia.org/johannes-fibiger) for research concluding that a worm larva caused gastric cancer in rats.[18](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9345763/) Perlmann cites [Oswald Avery](https://www.edgepedia.org/oswald-avery)'s 1944 discovery that DNA carries the genome as an oversight: Avery was nominated but died before receiving the prize.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize) In 2011 it emerged after the announcement that laureate Ralph Steinman had died before the decision was made that morning; because regulations require the winner to be alive at the announcement, the Nobel Foundation consulted legal experts and upheld the decision, which had been made in good faith.[4](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize)
## References
1. [Nomination and selection of medicine laureates, NobelPrize.org](https://unvis.it/www.nobelprize.org/nomination/medicine)
2. [Nobel Prize facts, NobelPrize.org](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/nobel-prize-facts/?source=post_page---------------------------)
3. [Nobel Prizes in Medicine: are clinicians out of fashion? (Ashrafian et al., JRSM 2011)](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1258/jrsm.2011.110081)
4. [Thomas Perlmann: "Everyone is passionate about the Nobel Prize", Karolinska Institutet](https://ki.se/en/about-ki/prizes-and-ceremonies/prizes-and-awards/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/thomas-perlmann-everyone-is-passionate-about-the-nobel-prize)
5. [Press release: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025, NobelPrize.org](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/press-release/%26nbsp/)
6. [A list of this year's Nobel Prize winners, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/99918d839a742def7ae4b135fc88b5e6)
7. [Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize, NobelPrize.org educational pages](https://educationalgames.nobelprize.org/educational/nobelprize_info/gradeschool.html)
8. [Nobel Prize in Medicine: 1901–Present, Live Science](https://www.livescience.com/16342-nobel-prize-medicine-history-list.html)
9. [Winning the Nobel Prize, The Atlantic (1950)](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1950/10/winning-the-nobel-prize/305480/)
10. [Nobel Foundation Annual Review 2013](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/07/annual_review_13.pdf)
11. [The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1901–2000, NobelPrize.org](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-1901-2000/)
12. [All Nobel Prizes, NobelPrize.org](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/all-nobel-prizes/all/?gallery_style=page)
13. [Are statistical contributions to medicine undervalued? (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12762435/)
14. [The Nobel Prize in medicine goes to 3 scientists for key immune system discoveries, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/a68cf8a3b930570630168a949d277cde)
15. [Nobel medicine prize goes to 3 scientists for shining light on brain activity, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/2efe9ee7eae9d808fd49a6da1f53ceba)
16. [Bioethical Inquiry (2010) 7:299–312](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11673-010-9248-0.pdf)
17. [The Problem With the Nobel Prizes, TIME](https://time.com/6225572/nobel-prizes-problem/)
18. [Controversies in Selecting Nobel Laureates: An Historical Commentary, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9345763/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Human health and medicine › Clinical assessment and procedures › Clinical professional bodies, regulation, and journals*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license