UCSD - University of California - San Diego
10/06/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/06/2025 18:42
UC San Diego Alumnus Wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
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- Mario Aguilera- [email protected]
Published Date
October 06, 2025Article Content
The Nobel Prize Committee has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to University of California San Diego alumnus Fred Ramsdell, a 1983 bachelor's degree graduate in biochemistry and cell biology, along with Mary Brunkow and Shimon Sakaguchi.
Ramsdell, Brunkow and Sakaguchi were honored for their game-changing research on the immune system. With discoveries on previously unrecognized molecular and cellular mechanisms, the three scientists have collectively transformed science's understanding of how our bodies safeguard the immune system by preventing immune cells from attacking the body's own tissues. Their work has led to a range of potential new treatments for debilitating autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Ramsdell, who went on to receive his PhD at University of California Los Angeles and has served in several leadership positions in the biotechnology industry, is now a scientific advisor at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco. He is the third UC San Diego Biological Sciences alumnus to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, following Bruce Beutler (2011) and Susumu Tonegawa (1987).
"We are proud that alumnus Fred Ramsdell is among this year's Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine," said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. "Congratulations to Fred and his fellow laureates on this historic achievement and on their transformative discoveries that continue to accelerate our understanding of the human immune system. Alumni such as Fred are shaping science, advancing society and reinforcing the United States' global leadership in medical research."
Unlike "central tolerance," which is one safeguard that eliminates some immune system cells (T cells) that could attack our own healthy tissues, Sakaguchi's research showed that the immune system is more complex than previously believed. He discovered a subset of immune cells known as regulatory T cells that act as guardians to keep the body's immune system in check. Ramsdell and Brunkow extended this work on "peripheral immune tolerance," according to the Nobel Prize committee, by providing an explanation for why a strain of mice is especially vulnerable to autoimmune diseases. Importantly, they linked a mutation in a mouse gene they named Foxp3 with a human equivalent that, when mutated, causes a genetic disorder characterized by systemic autoimmunity in infants known as IPEX.
"Fred Ramsdell's work identifying the Foxp3 gene as essential for preventing autoimmunity in humans and mice laid the groundwork for game-changing discoveries over the last 25 years that have revealed the roles for regulatory T cells in maintaining the balance of immune activity and as novel targets in the treatment of disease," said Ananda Goldrath a professor in the UC San Diego Department of Molecular Biology, School of Biological Sciences.
The Nobel Prize committee recognized that the three Nobel laureates' discoveries helped launch the field of peripheral tolerance, spurring the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases, with additional potential for more successful transplantations. More than 200 related T-cell therapeutics are currently in ongoing clinical trials.
"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 Kämpe, chair of the Nobel Committee, in a statement.
- With information from the Nobel Prize committee
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