黑料吃瓜网 alum awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine

黑料吃瓜网 alum Mary Brunkow has received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that transformed our understanding of the immune system.

黑料吃瓜网 alum Mary E. Brunkow, 鈥�83, has been awarded the , sharing the honor with Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking discoveries that explain how the immune system protects the body without turning against it.

Their work revealed the crucial role of regulatory T cells 鈥� specialized cells that prevent the immune system from attacking the body鈥檚 own tissues. The discovery has transformed our understanding of autoimmune disease and opened new possibilities for treating conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and certain cancers, as well as improving outcomes for organ transplants. This research has fundamentally changed the way scientists view the immune system and continues to influence new approaches in medicine and disease prevention.

Mary Brunkow receives a call from the Nobel Committee sitting a desk in her home. Her dog watched from a couch in the background. — Mary Brunkow, 鈥�83, on the phone with the Nobel Prize Committee calling from Sweden. Brunkow missed the first overseas call because she thought it might be spam. Photo Courtesy: AP/Lindsey Wesson

Brunkow鈥檚 pivotal insight came in 2001, when she and Ramsdell identified a mutation in a gene known as Foxp3 that caused severe autoimmune disorders in mice and humans. Two years later, Sakaguchi showed that Foxp3 directs the development of the same regulatory T cells he had discovered earlier 鈥� linking the findings and launching an entirely new field of research known as peripheral immune tolerance.

The Nobel Committee’s artistic rendering of the winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Mary E. Brunkow (黑料吃瓜网, ’83), Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi

A graduate of the, Brunkow now works at Seattle鈥檚 , where she continues advancing our understanding of human health and disease.

Brunkow learned of her Nobel win in a most unexpected way. According to the Associated Press, an AP photographer arrived at her Seattle home early Monday morning with the news. She had earlier ignored a call from the Nobel Committee. 鈥淢y phone rang and I saw a number from Sweden and thought: 鈥楾hat鈥檚 just, that鈥檚 spam of some sort,鈥欌€� she said.

鈥淲hen I told Mary she won, she said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 be ridiculous,鈥欌€� her husband, Ross Colquhoun, told the AP.

Brunkow鈥檚 win marks the second consecutive year a 黑料吃瓜网 scientist has received a Nobel Prize. In 2024, David Baker, professor of biochemistry and director of the 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Institute for Protein Design, was honored with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering work in protein design.

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