The Nobel Prize for medicine is awarded to “the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine”.
Alfred Nobel’s vision puts responsibility for deciding the winner on the Karolinska Institutet. Since 1901, there have been 112 prizes awarded — and nine years where no one won — with 224 laureates, 12 of whom were women.
The youngest winner was Canadian Frederick G. Banting, 32, when he won in 1923 “for the discovery of insulin”. American Peyton Rous is the oldest winner, who was 87 when his “discovery of tumour-inducing viruses” was honoured.
No one has yet been awarded the prize for medicine more than once and no one has received it posthumously.
2021
David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch”.
2020
Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice “for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus”.
2019
William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability”
2018
James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation”
2017
Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm”
2016
Yoshinori Ohsumi “for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy”
2015
William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites”
Tu Youyou “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria”
2014
John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser “for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain”
2013
James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof “for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells”
2012
Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent”
2011
Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity”
Ralph M. Steinman “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity”
2010
Robert G. Edwards “for the development of in vitro fertilisation”
2009
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak “for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”
2008
Harald zur Hausen” for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer”
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier “for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus”
2007
Mario R. Capecchi, Sir Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies “for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells”
2006
Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello “for their discovery of RNA interference — gene silencing by double-stranded RNA”
2005
Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren “for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease”
2004
Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck “for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organisation of the olfactory system”
2003
Paul C. Lauterbur and Sir Peter Mansfield “for their discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging”
2002
Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston “for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'”
2001
Leland H. Hartwell, Tim Hunt and Sir Paul M. Nurse “for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle”
2000
Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric R. Kandel “for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system”
1999
Günter Blobel “for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localisation in the cell”
1998
Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad “for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system”
1997
Stanley B. Prusiner “for his discovery of Prions — a new biological principle of infection”
1996
Peter C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel “for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence”
1995
Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric F. Wieschaus “for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development”
1994
Alfred G. Gilman and Martin Rodbell “for their discovery of G-proteins and the role of these proteins in signal transduction in cells”
1993
Richard J. Roberts and Phillip A. Sharp “for their discoveries of split genes”
1992
Edmond H. Fischer and Edwin G. Krebs “for their discoveries concerning reversible protein phosphorylation as a biological regulatory mechanism”
1991
Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann “for their discoveries concerning the function of single ion channels in cells”
1990
Joseph E. Murray and E. Donnall Thomas “for their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease”
1989
J. Michael Bishop and Harold E. Varmus “for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes”
1988
Sir James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings “for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment”
1987
Susumu Tonegawa “for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity”
1986
Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini “for their discoveries of growth factors”
1985
Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein “for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism”
1984
Niels K. Jerne, Georges J.F. Köhler and César Milstein “for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies”
1983
Barbara McClintock “for her discovery of mobile genetic elements”
1982
Sune K. Bergström, Bengt I. Samuelsson and John R. Vane “for their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances”
1981
Roger W. Sperry “for his discoveries concerning the functional specialisation of the cerebral hemispheres”
David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel “for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system”
1980
Baruj Benacerraf, Jean Dausset and George D. Snell “for their discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions”
1979
Allan M. Cormack and Godfrey N. Hounsfield” for the development of computer assisted tomography”
1978
Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans and Hamilton O. Smith “for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics”
1977
Roger Guillemin and Andrew V. Schally “for their discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain”
Rosalyn Yalow” for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones”
1976
Baruch S. Blumberg and D. Carleton Gajdusek” for their discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases”
1975
David Baltimore, Renato Dulbecco and Howard Martin Temin” for their discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell”
1974
Albert Claude, Christian de Duve and George E. Palade “for their discoveries concerning the structural and functional organisation of the cell”
1973
Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen “for their discoveries concerning organisation and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns”
1972
Gerald M. Edelman and Rodney R. Porter “for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies”
1971
Earl W. Sutherland, junior “for his discoveries concerning the mechanisms of the action of hormones”
1970
Sir Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler and Julius Axelrod “for their discoveries concerning the humoral transmitters in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation”
1969
Max Delbrück, Alfred D. Hershey and Salvador E. Luria “for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses”
1968
Robert W. Holley, hair Gobind Khorana and Marshall W. Nirenberg “for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis”
1967
Ragnar Granit, Haldan Keffer Hartline and George Wald “for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye”
1966
Peyton Rous “for his discovery of tumour-inducing viruses”
Charles Brenton Huggins “for his discoveries concerning hormonal treatment of prostatic cancer”
1965
François Jacob, André Lwoff and Jacques Monod “for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis”
1964
Konrad Bloch and Feodor Lynen “for their discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism”
1963
Sir John Carew Eccles, Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Fielding Huxley “for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane”
1962
Francis Harry Compton Crick, James Dewey Watson and Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material”
1961
Georg von Békésy “for his discoveries of the physical mechanism of stimulation within the cochlea”
1960
Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet and Peter Brian Medawar “for discovery of acquired immunological tolerance”
1959
Severo Ochoa and Arthur Kornberg “for their discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid”
1958
George Wells Beadle and Edward Lawrie Tatum “for their discovery that genes act by regulating definite chemical events”
Joshua Lederberg “for his discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organisation of the genetic material of bacteria”
1957
Daniel Bovet “for his discoveries relating to synthetic compounds that inhibit the action of certain body substances, and especially their action on the vascular system and the skeletal muscles”
1956
André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann and Dickinson W. Richards “for their discoveries concerning heart catheterisation and pathological changes in the circulatory system”
1955
Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell “for his discoveries concerning the nature and mode of action of oxidation enzymes”
1954
John Franklin Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller and Frederick Chapman Robbins “for their discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue”
1953
Hans Adolf Krebs “for his discovery of the citric acid cycle”
Fritz Albert Lipmann “for his discovery of coenzyme A and its importance for intermediary metabolism”
1952
Selman Abraham Waksman “for his discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis”
1951
Max Theiler “for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it”
1950
Edward Calvin Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein and Philip Showalter Hench “for their discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects”
1949
Walter Rudolf Hess “for his discovery of the functional organisation of the interbrain as a coordinator of the activities of the internal organs”
Antonio Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz “for his discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses”
1948
Paul Hermann Müller “for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods”
1947
Carl Ferdinand Cori and Gerty Theresa Cori, née Radnitz “for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen”
Bernardo Alberto Houssay “for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar”
1946
Hermann Joseph Muller “for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation”
1945
Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey “for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases”
1944
Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Spencer Gasser “for their discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibres”
1943
Henrik Carl Peter Dam “for his discovery of vitamin K”
Edward Adelbert Doisy “for his discovery of the chemical nature of vitamin K”
1942
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1941
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1940
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1939
Gerhard Domagk “for the discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil”
1938
Corneille Jean François Heymans “for the discovery of the role played by the sinus and aortic mechanisms in the regulation of respiration”
1937
Albert von Szent-Györgyi Nagyrápolt “for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid”
1936
Sir Henry Hallett Dale and Otto Loewi “for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses”
1935
Hans Spemann “for his discovery of the organiser effect in embryonic development”
1934
George Hoyt Whipple, George Richards Minot and William Parry Murphy “for their discoveries concerning liver therapy in cases of anaemia”
1933
Thomas Hunt Morgan “for his discoveries concerning the role played by the chromosome in heredity”
1932
Sir Charles Scott Sherrington and Edgar Douglas Adrian “for their discoveries regarding the functions of neurons”
1931
Otto Heinrich Warburg “for his discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme”
1930
Karl Landsteiner “for his discovery of human blood groups”
1929
Christiaan Eijkman “for his discovery of the antineuritic vitamin”
Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins “for his discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins”
1928
Charles Jules Henri Nicolle “for his work on typhus”
1927
Julius Wagner-Jauregg “for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica”
1926
Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger “for his discovery of the Spiroptera carcinoma”
1925
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1924
Willem Einthoven “for his discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram”
1923
Frederick Grant Banting and John James Rickard Macleod “for the discovery of insulin”
1922
Archibald Vivian Hill “for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle”
Otto Fritz Meyerhof “for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle”
1921
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1920
Schack August Steenberg Krogh “for his discovery of the capillary motor regulating mechanism”
1919
Jules Bordet “for his discoveries relating to immunity”
1918
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1917
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1916
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1915
No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1914
Robert Bárány “for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus”
1913
Charles Robert Richet “in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis”
1912
Alexis Carrel “in recognition of his work on vascular suture and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs”
1911
Allvar Gullstrand “for his work on the dioptrics of the eye”
1910
Albrecht Kossel “in recognition of the contributions to our knowledge of cell chemistry made through his work on proteins, including the nucleic substances”
1909
Emil Theodor Kocher “for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland”
1908
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov and Paul Ehrlich “in recognition of their work on immunity”
1907
Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran “in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases”
1906
Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal “in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system”
1905
Robert Koch “for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis”
1904
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov “in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged”
1903
Niels Ryberg Finsen “in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science”
1902
Ronald Ross “for his work on malaria, by which he has shown how it enters the organism and thereby has laid the foundation for successful research on this disease and methods of combating it”
1901
Emil Adolf von Behring “for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths”
