• Three scientists Brunkow, Ramsdell, Sakaguchi win the Nobel Prize in medicine for peripheral immune tolerance.
• Timeline traces back to Sakaguchi’s 1995 discovery and the Foxp3 gene work by Brunkow and Ramsdell in 2001, linked two years later.
• Impact the laureates’ work spurred treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases and may improve transplant outcomes.
• Awards announced by Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, with ceremonies on Dec. 10.

Stockholm hosted the Nobel Prize in medicine announcement for Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi, recognized for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. Brunkow is a senior program manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle; Ramsdell is a scientific adviser for Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco; Sakaguchi is a distinguished professor at Osaka University's Immunology Frontier Research Center in Japan. The prize highlights how peripheral immune tolerance helps prevent the immune system from attacking its own tissues. Their work began with Sakaguchi’s 1995 discovery, followed by a 2001 breakthrough from Brunkow and Ramsdell, with Sakaguchi linking the findings two years later. “The laureates' discoveries launched the field of peripheral tolerance, spurring the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases,” the Nobel Assembly said in a news release. “This may also lead to more successful transplantations. Several of these treatments are now undergoing clinical trials.” according to npr, lemonde, and cbsnews.

Context and impact of the discoveries are echoed across the reports. The Nobel Assembly described the work as launching a field that now informs cancer and autoimmune therapies and may improve transplant outcomes, with the prize set within the annual announcements at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The three outlets note the same arc—from Sakaguchi’s 1995 identification of regulatory T cells to Brunkow and Ramsdell’s 2001 gene findings and the subsequent linkage of these discoveries. This context underscores the potential clinical implications as researchers pursue regulatory T cells for treatments. “The laureates’ discoveries launched the field of peripheral tolerance, spurring the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases,” according to npr, lemonde, and cbsnews.

Personal reflections and quotes accompany the coverage as well. CBS highlights reactions from Sakaguchi and Brunkow, including Sakaguchi’s hope that the findings will translate into treatments and Brunkow’s description of the genetic alteration as a small change with a large effect on immune function. The reporting also notes researchers worldwide now pursuing regulatory T cells to treat autoimmune diseases and cancer, echoing the broader impact celebrated by the Nobel Committee. “From a DNA level, it was a really small alteration that caused this massive change to how the immune system works,” Brunkow said in the CBS piece, while “I hope researches into the area will further progress so that our findings can be used in treatment,” Sakaguchi added in that same coverage. “Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases,” said Olle Kämpé, chair of the Nobel Committee, quoted in CBS and reflected in the other outlets.

Ceremony timeline and the broader prize schedule are also described consistently. NPR, Le Monde and CBS note that the Nobel announcements continue with physics, chemistry and literature in the following days, with the Peace Prize and the economics prize announced later in October, and the Dec. 10 award ceremony in Stockholm. The cross-source framing reinforces that this is the opening installment of the 2025 Nobel Prize announcements.