The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine | |
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Awarded for | Discoveries in physiology or medicine that led to benefit for humankind |
Location | , Sweden |
Presented by | Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet |
First awarded | 1901 |
Official website | nobelprize.org |
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"for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy" | |||||||||
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William C. Campbell
Satoshi Ōmura
Tu Youyou
(2015)
Yoshinori Ohsumi
(2016)
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Swedish: Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin), administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the fields of life sciences and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will. Nobel was personally interested in experimental physiology and wanted to establish a prize for progress through scientific discoveries in laboratories. The Nobel Prize is presented to the recipient(s) at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death, along with a diploma and a certificate for the monetary award. The front side of the medal provides the same profile of Alfred Nobel as depicted on the medals for Physics, Chemistry, and Literature; its reverse side is unique to this medal.
As of 2015, 106 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to 198 men and 12 women. The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 1901 to the German physiologist Emil von Behring, for his work on serum therapy and the development of a vaccine against diphtheria. The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Gerty Cori, received it in 1947 for her role in elucidating the metabolism of glucose, important in many aspects of medicine, including treatment of diabetes.