Fred Ramsdell, Mary Brunkow, and Shimon Sakaguchi sharing the Nobel Prize Physiology or Medicine. They shared the award for their landmark discoveries about how the immune system works. This high honor acknowledges their innovative work in the field. They were able to pinpoint these regulatory T-cells, which act as important master “security guards” for the body’s broader immune system.
In 1995, Shimon Sakaguchi discovered something remarkable. Through this work, he revealed a new, previously unrecognized class of immune cells that helps protect the body from autoimmune diseases. His discoveries paved the way for future breakthroughs in the field of immunology. In 2001, Ramsdell and Brunkow discovered something crucial. This discovery deepened our knowledge about how these important immune regulatory T-cells work.
Fred Ramsdell, a 64-year-old, senior adviser at Sonoma Biotherapeutics, was unavailable. He was widely unavailable, as he was backpacking off-grid in Idaho. The Nobel committee had a hard time reaching Mary Brunkow, a senior project manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. Further complicating communication was the huge time difference between the U.S. West Coast and Stockholm.
Even with these obstacles though, the committee was finally able to get in touch with Brunkow, who conveyed her enthusiasm about the recognition.
“I asked them to, if they have a chance, call me back,” – Thomas Perlmann, Nobel committee member.
Jeffrey Bluestone, a close friend of Ramsdell’s, expressed his belief that Ramsdell deserves recognition for his contributions to the research.