The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is one of the Nobel Prizes which were created by Alfred Nobel. This award is decided by the Karolinska Institutet, a major medical center in Sweden. The Prize is given every year to a person or persons who have done excellent work in the area of medicine (treating or stopping disease) or physiology (the way the body works).
Nobel Prize winners
1901–1910
Santiago Ramón y Cajal, 1906
- 1901 – Emil von Behring, Germany, for making a serum to stop people getting the disease diphtheria
- 1902 – Ronald Ross, United Kingdom, for work on malaria
- 1903 – Niels Ryberg Finsen, Denmark, for treating Lupus vulgaris (tuberculosis of the skin), with light radiation.
- 1904 – Ivan Pavlov, Russia, for his work on the way digestion works.
- 1905 – Robert Koch, Germany, for studying tuberculosis
- 1906 – Camillo Golgi, Italy and Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spain for their work on the parts of the nervous system
- 1907 – Alphonse Laveran, France, for his work on the way protozoa can cause disease
- 1908 – Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russia, and Paul Ehrlich, Germany, for finding out how immunity fights disease
- 1909 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Switzerland, for his work on the thyroid gland
- 1910 – Albrecht Kossel, Germany, for his work on proteins and nucleic substances
1911–1919
- 1911 – Allvar Gullstrand, Sweden, for his work on light refraction and the eye
- 1912 – Alexis Carrel, France, for his work on joining blood vessels and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs
- 1913 – Charles Robert Richet, France, for his work on anaphylaxis
- 1914 – Robert Bárány, Austria, for his work on the ear and balance
- 1915 – Not awarded
- 1916 – Not awarded
- 1917 – Not awarded
- 1918 – Not awarded
- 1919 – Jules Bordet, Belgium, for his discoveries about immunity
1920–1929
- 1920 – August Krogh, Denmark, for his discoveries about capillaries
- 1921 – Not awarded
- 1922 – Archibald Vivian Hill, United Kingdom, for finding out how muscles make heat
- 1922 – Otto Fritz Meyerhof, Germany, for finding out how oxygen makes chemical changes in lactic acid in muscles
- 1923 – Frederick Grant Banting, Canada and John Macleod, Canada, for the discovery of insulin"
- 1924 – Willem Einthoven, The Netherlands, for inventing the electrocardiogram"
- 1925 – Not awarded
- 1926 – Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger, Denmark, for his discovery that an infection could lead to cancer
- 1927 – Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austria, for his discovery that malaria inoculation helps the treatment of paralysis
- 1928 – Charles Jules Henri Nicolle, France, for his work on typhus
- 1929, Christiaan Eijkman, The Netherlands, for finding out how to use a vitamin to stop nerve pain"
- 1929 – Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, United Kingdom, for his discovery of the vitamins that help growth
1930–1939
Karl Landsteiner, on an Austrian banknote
- 1930 – Karl Landsteiner, for discovery of human blood types.
- 1931 – Otto Heinrich Warburg, Germany, for his discovery of the respiratory enzyme.
- 1932 – Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, United Kingdom, and Edgar Douglas Adrian, United Kingdom, for discoveries about neurons (nerve cells).
- 1933 – Thomas Hunt Morgan, United States, for his work on chromosomes and heredity".
- 1934 – George Hoyt Whipple, George Richards Minot, and William Parry Murphy, United States, for their work on how eating liver could cure anaemia.
- 1935 – Hans Spemann, Germany, for finding the organizer effect in embryonic development.
- 1936 – Sir Henry Hallett Dale, United Kingdom, and Otto Loewi, Austria for their discoveries about neurotransmitters and nerve impulses.
- 1937 – Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungary, for his discoveries about cells, vitamin C and chemical changes of fumaric acid.
- 1938 – Corneille Heymans, Belgium, for work on the paranasal sinus and aortic mechanisms in the control of breathing.
- 1939 – Gerhard Domagk, Germany, for finding the antibacterial effects of prontosil.
1940–1949
- 1940 – Not awarded
- 1941 – Not awarded
- 1942 – Not awarded
- 1943 – Henrik Carl Peter Dam, Denmark, for his discovery of vitamin K
- 1943 – Edward Adelbert Doisy, United States, for work on vitamin K"
- 1944 – Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser, United States, for their discoveries about single nerve fibres
- 1945 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst Boris Chain, United Kingdom and Howard Walter Florey, Australia, for the discovery of penicillin and making it into an antibiotic to cure infectious diseases
- 1946 – Hermann Joseph Muller, United States, for the discovery of mutations caused by X-ray irradiation
- 1947 – Carl Ferdinand Cori and Gerty Theresa Cori, née Radnitz, United States, for their work on catalytic conversion of glycogen
- 1947 – Bernardo Alberto Houssay, Argentina, for finding out how the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe works in the metabolism of sugar
- 1948 – Paul Hermann Müller, Switzerland, for his work on DDT as a poison against several insects
- 1949 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Switzerland, for his discovery of the way the brain controls the internal organs
- 1949 – António Egas Moniz, Portugal, for using leucotomy (brain surgery) to cure some mental illnesses.
1950–1959
- 1950 – Philip French, Edward Kendall, United States, and Tadeusz Reichstein, Switzerland, for the hormones of the adrenal cortex.
- 1951 – Max Theiler, Union of South Africa, for his discoveries about yellow fever.
- 1952 – Selman Waksman, United States, for discovering streptomycin, the first antibiotic to work against tuberculosis.
- 1953 – Hans Krebs, United Kingdom, for his discovery of the citric acid cycle.
- 1953 – Fritz Lipmann, United States, for his discovery of co-enzyme A.
- 1954 – John Enders, Frederick Robbins, and Thomas Weller, United States, for discovering the poliomyelitis virus and growing it in a laboratory.
- 1955 – Hugo Theorell, Sweden, for his discoveries about enzymes changing with oxygen.
- 1956 – André Cournand, Dickinson Richards, United States, and Werner Forssmann, Federal Republic of Germany, for their discoveries about heart catheterization and changes in the circulatory system.
- 1957 – Daniel Bovet, Italy for his work on antihistamine and what they do to parts of the body.
- 1958 – George Beadle and Edward Tatum, United States, for finding out how genes work.
- 1958 – Joshua Lederberg, United States, for finding out how genetic recombination works in bacteria (transduction (genetics)).
- 1959 – Arthur Kornberg and Severo Ochoa, United States, for their discovery of how living things make ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
1960–1969
Frank Macfarlane Burnet, 1960
- 1960 – Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australia, and Sir Peter Medawar, United Kingdom, for their discovery of acquired immune tolerance.
- 1961 – Georg von Békésy, United States, for his discoveries about the cochlea (inner ear).
- 1962 – Francis Crick, United Kingdom, James D. Watson, United States, and Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand, for finding the structure of nucleic acids and its importance in coding information in living things.
- 1963 – Sir John Eccles, Australia, Alan Hodgkin, United Kingdom, and Andrew Huxley, United Kingdom, for their discoveries about nerve cell membrane.
- 1964 – Konrad Bloch, United States, and Feodor Lynen, Federal Republic of Germany, for finding out how cholesterol and fatty acid work in the body.
- 1965 – François Jacob, André Lwoff, and Jacques Monod, France, for finding out how genes control viruses.
- 1966 – Peyton Rous, United States, for his discovery that viruses can cause tumours.
- 1966 – Charles Brenton Huggins, United States, for using hormonal treatment of prostate cancer.
- 1967 – Ragnar Granit, Sweden, Haldan Keffer Hartline, and George Wald, United States, for their discoveries about how the eye works.
- 1968 – Robert W. Holley, Har Gobind Khorana, and Marshall W. Nirenberg, United States, for their understanding of the genetic code and its role in protein synthesis.
- 1969 – Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey, and Salvador Luria, United States, for finding how viruses reproduce.
1970–1979
- 1970 – Julius Axelrod, Ulf von Euler, Sweden, and Sir Bernard Katz, United Kingdom, for finding out about transmittors in the nerve terminals and how they work
- 1971 – Earl W. Sutherland, Jr., United States, for his discoveries about hormones
- 1972 – Gerald M. Edelman, United States, and Rodney R. Porter, United Kingdom, for finding out the chemical structure of antibodies
- 1973 – Karl von Frisch, Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Lorenz, Austria, and Nikolaas Tinbergen, United Kingdom, for their discoveries about individual and social behaviour patterns
- 1974 – Albert Claude, Christian de Duve, Belgium, and George E. Palade, United States, for their discoveries about cells
- 1975 – David Baltimore, Howard Temin, and Renato Dulbecco, United States, for finding what happens when tumour causing viruses infect normal cells.
- 1976 – Baruch S. Blumberg and D. Carleton Gajdusek, United States, for their discoveries about the beginnings and spreading of infectious diseases
- 1977 – Roger Guillemin, Andrew W. Schally, United States, for their discoveries about how the brain makes peptide hormone
- 1977 – Rosalyn Yalow, United States, for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones
- 1978 – Werner Arber, Switzerland, Daniel Nathans, United States, and Hamilton O. Smith, United States for finding restriction enzymes and their use in molecular genetics"
- 1979 – Allan M. Cormack, United States, and Godfrey N. Hounsfield, United Kingdom, for the development of computer assisted tomography
1980–1989
- 1980 – Baruj Benacerraf, United States, Jean Dausset, France, and George D. Snell, United States, for their discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that control immunological reactions
- 1981 – Roger Sperry, United States, for finding out the role of the cerebral hemispheres of the brain
- 1981 – David Hubel, United States, and Torsten Wiesel, Sweden, for their discoveries about information processing in the visual system"
- 1982 – Sune Bergström, Bengt I. Samuelsson, Sweden, and John R. Vane, United Kingdom, for their discoveries about prostaglandins.
- 1983 – Barbara McClintock, United States, for her discovery of mobile genetic elements
- 1984 – Niels K. Jerne, Denmark, Georges Köhler, Federal Republic of Germany, César Milstein, Argentina and the United Kingdom, for theories about the development and control of the immune system and the discovery of monoclonal antibodies are made
- 1985 – Michael S. Brown, and Joseph L. Goldstein, United States, for finding out how cholesterol is controlled
- 1986 – Stanley Cohen, United States, and Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italy and the United States, for their discoveries of growth factors
- 1987 – Susumu Tonegawa, Japan, for his discovery how the genes make different antibodies
- 1988 – Sir James Black, United Kingdom, Gertrude B. Elion, and George H. Hitchings, United States, for finding important rules for drug treatment
- 1989 – J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus, United States, found how disturbing a large family of genes that control the normal growth and division of cells, can cause normal cells to change into cancer cells.
1990–1999
- 1990 – Joseph E. Murray and E. Donnall Thomas, United States, for their discoveries about organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of disease.
- 1991 – Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann, Federal Republic of Germany, for finding what single ion channels do in cells.
- 1992 – Edmond H. Fischer, Switzerland and the United States, and Edwin G. Krebs, United States, for finding reversible protein phosphorylation as a biological control mechanism.
- 1993 – Richard Roberts, United Kingdom, and Phillip Sharp, United States, for their discoveries of split genes.
- 1994 – Alfred G. Gilman, and Martin Rodbell, United States, for finding G-proteins and the role of these proteins in signal transduction in cells.
- 1995 – Edward B. Lewis, United States, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Federal Republic of Germany, and Eric F. Wieschaus, United States, for finding how embryonic development is changed by genes.
- 1996 – Peter C. Doherty, Australia, and Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Switzerland, for finding how the immune system knows which cells are virus-infected.
- 1997 – Stanley B. Prusiner, United States, for his discovery of prions, proteins that make people sick.
- 1998 – Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad, United States, for finding how nitric oxide works as a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system.
- 1999 – Günter Blobel, United States, for the discovery that proteins have built-in signals that control their transport and localization in the cell.
2000–2009
- 2000 – Arvid Carlsson, Sweden, Paul Greengard, United States, and Eric Kandel, United States, for their discoveries about signal transduction in the nervous system.
- 2001 – Leland Hartwell, United States, Tim Hunt, United Kingdom, and Sir Paul Nurse, United Kingdom, for finding the main controls in the cell cycle.
- 2002 – Sydney Brenner, United Kingdom, H. Robert Horvitz, United States, and Sir John Sulston, United Kingdom, for their finding the genetic controls of organ development and programmed cell death.
- 2003 – Paul Lauterbur, United States, and Sir Peter Mansfield, United Kingdom, for inventing magnetic resonance imaging.
- 2004 – Richard Axel and Linda Buck, United States, for finding small receptors and the organization of the olfactory system, (how we smell things).
- 2005 – Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, Australia, for finding the bacterium Helicobacter pylori that causes gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.
- 2006 – Andrew Fire and Craig Mello, United States, for finding how RNA interference can switch genes on or off.
- 2007 – Mario Capecchi, United States, Sir Martin Evans, United Kingdom, Oliver Smithies, United States, for finding a way to switch off genes in mouse embryonic stem cells. This leads to genetically changed mice.
- 2008 – Harald zur Hausen, Germany, for finding the human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, France, for finding the human immunodeficiency virus.
- 2009 – Elizabeth Blackburn, Australia, Carol Greider, US, and Jack Szostak, England, for their work on chromosomes.
2010–2019
- 2010 – Robert Edwards, U.K., for the development of in vitro fertilization.
- 2011 – Bruce Beutler, U.S.A., Jules Hoffmann, France, for their discoveries about how innate immunity is activated.
Ralph Steinman, Canada/U.S.A. for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity. (awarded posthumously)
- 2012 – John Gurdon, U.K., and Shinya Yamanaka, Japan, for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become stem cells.
- 2013 – James Rothman, Randy Schekman, both US, and Thomas G. Sudhof, Germany for "discovering the molecular basis of neutrotransmitters release".
- 2014 – John O'Keefe U.K./U.S., May-Britt Moser & Edvard Moser Norway for "discovering the cells that make a positing system in the brain" (the hippocampus as a mental map for spatial memory).
- 2015 William C. Campbell (1/4)/ Satoshi Ōmura (1/4) / Tu Youyou (1/2) for therapy against (respectively) roundworm parasites, and malaria.
- 2016 Yoshinori Ohsumi for autophagy.
- 2017 Michael Rosbash, Michael W. Young & Jeffrey C. Hall, all U.S., for "for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm"
- 2018 James P. Allison, U.S, Tasuku Honjo, Japan for "discovery of cancer therapy by inhibitation of negative immune regulation".
Images for kids
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Nobel was interested in experimental physiology and set up his own laboratories.
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In 1947, Gerty Cori was the first woman to be awarded the Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
