Nobel Prize in Medicine
Jewish recipients of the Nobel Prize in Medicine documented in the ThankJews directory. Jews are about 26% of all recipients — while making up roughly 0.2% of the world's population.
62 documented recipients
Paul Ehrlich1908
Chemotherapy
Source: Nobel Prize Medicine 1908
Elie Metchnikoff1908
Discovered phagocytosis and cellular immunity; Nobel 1908 (NOT the inventor of yogurt; he popularized the probiotic/lactic-acid longevity theory)
Source: Nobelprize.org; Wikipedia (mother of Jewish descent)
Robert Bárány1876
Otologist awarded the 1914 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular (balance) apparatus of the inner ear.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Otto Meyerhof1884
Awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize for discovering the relationship between oxygen consumption and lactic acid metabolism in muscle.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Willem Einthoven1903
Inventeur de l'électrocardiogramme, prix Nobel de médecine 1924
Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1924/einthoven/biographical/
Karl Landsteiner1930
Discovery of the human blood groups
Source: Jinfo.org / Nobel Prize Medicine 1930
Otto Warburg1931
Discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme
Source: Jinfo.org / Nobel Prize Medicine 1931
Otto Loewi1936
Pharmacologist who proved the chemical transmission of nerve impulses and identified the vagus substance as acetylcholine; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1936
Source: Wikipedia — Otto Loewi
Joseph Erlanger1874
Physiologist who, with Herbert Gasser, built a cathode-ray oscillograph to record nerve impulses and showed that nerve fibres conduct at speeds set by their diameter; Nobel Prize in Physiology or…
Source: Wikipedia — Joseph Erlanger
Ernst Boris Chain1906
Biochemist who, with Howard Florey at Oxford, isolated penicillin and demonstrated its curative action; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945
Source: Wikipedia — Ernst Chain
Hermann Muller1890
Showed in 1927 that X-rays produce gene mutations, founding radiation genetics; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1946
Source: Wikipedia — Hermann Muller
Gerty Cori1896
Biochemist awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize for discovering the Cori cycle of glycogen metabolism; first woman to win the medicine Nobel.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Tadeus Reichstein1897
Awarded the 1950 Nobel Prize for research on the hormones of the adrenal cortex, including cortisone.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Selman Waksman1943
Streptomycin (first antibiotic for TB), discovered in his Rutgers laboratory; coined the term antibiotics; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1952
Source: Wikipedia — Selman Waksman
Hans Krebs1953
Discovery of the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle) in cellular metabolism
Source: Jinfo.org / Nobel Prize Medicine 1953
Fritz Lipmann1899
Discovered coenzyme A and introduced the concept of energy-rich phosphate bonds; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1953
Source: Wikipedia — Fritz Lipmann
Joshua Lederberg1958
Showed that bacteria mate and exchange genes (genetic recombination) and co-discovered transduction; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1958
Source: Wikipedia — Joshua Lederberg
Arthur Kornberg1959
DNA Synthesis
Source: Nobel Prize Medicine 1959
Konrad Bloch1912
Biochemist awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize for elucidating the metabolism of cholesterol and fatty acids.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
François Jacob1920
Awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize for discovering the operon model of gene regulation.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
André Lwoff1902
Awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize for work on lysogeny and the genetic control of viruses.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
George Wald1906
Awarded the 1967 Nobel Prize for discovering the biochemical processes of vision in the retina.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Marshall Nirenberg1968
Genetic Code
Source: Nobel Prize Medicine 1968
Salvador Luria1912
Showed with Max Delbrück that bacteria mutate spontaneously (fluctuation test); co-founded the phage group; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1969 for discoveries on the replication and genetics…
Source: Wikipedia — Salvador Luria
Julius Axelrod1970
Showed that nerve endings take back the noradrenaline they release (reuptake) and discovered the enzyme COMT; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1970
Source: Wikipedia — Julius Axelrod / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1970
Bernard Katz1970
Showed that acetylcholine is released at the nerve-muscle junction in packets of fixed size (quanta); Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1970
Source: Wikipedia — Bernard Katz / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1970
Gerald Edelman1929
Awarded the 1972 Nobel Prize for determining the chemical structure of antibodies.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Karl von Frisch1886
Awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize in Medicine for decoding the 'dance language' of honeybees
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biomedical Science
David Baltimore1975
Discovered reverse transcriptase (1970), the enzyme retroviruses such as HIV use to copy RNA into DNA; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1975; president of Caltech 1997–2006
Source: Wikipedia — David Baltimore / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1975
Howard Temin1975
Proposed the DNA provirus hypothesis (1964) and co-discovered reverse transcriptase (1970), showing that genetic information can flow from RNA to DNA; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1975
Source: Wikipedia — Howard Martin Temin / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1975
Baruch Blumberg1976
Hepatitis B Virus and Vaccine
Source: Nobel Prize Medicine 1976
Rosalyn Yalow1977
Developed radioimmunoassay with Solomon Berson, a way of measuring minute amounts of hormones in the blood, which they chose not to patent; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1977
Source: Wikipedia — Rosalyn Sussman Yalow / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1977
Daniel Nathans1928
Used restriction enzymes to cut the DNA of the tumour virus SV40 into defined fragments and map it, founding a basic method of molecular biology; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1978
Source: Wikipedia — Daniel Nathans / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1978
Baruj Benacerraf1920
Discovered the immune response (Ir) genes of the major histocompatibility complex that control the strength of immune reactions; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1980; president of the…
Source: Wikipedia — Baruj Benacerraf / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1980
John Vane1927
Awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize for discovering how aspirin works and the biology of prostaglandins.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
César Milstein1927
Awarded the 1984 Nobel Prize for developing the technique to produce monoclonal antibodies.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Michael S. Brown1941
Awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize for discovering the LDL receptor and the regulation of cholesterol metabolism.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Joseph Goldstein1940
With Michael Brown discovered the LDL receptor (1973) and how cells regulate cholesterol, the scientific basis of statin drugs; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1985
Source: Wikipedia — Joseph L. Goldstein / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1985
Stanley Cohen1986
Growth Factors
Source: Nobel Prize Medicine 1986
Rita Levi-Montalcini1986
Discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF), first isolated in 1952; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1986; senator for life of Italy from 2001
Source: Wikipedia — Rita Levi-Montalcini / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1986
Gertrude Elion1988
Pioneered rational drug design with George Hitchings, producing 6-mercaptopurine for childhood leukaemia, azathioprine for transplants, allopurinol, acyclovir and other medicines; Nobel Prize in…
Source: Wikipedia — Gertrude B. Elion / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1988
Harold Varmus1989
With Michael Bishop showed that retroviral oncogenes derive from normal cellular genes (proto-oncogenes), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1989; director of the NIH 1993–1999 and of the National…
Source: Wikipedia — Harold E. Varmus / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1989
Edmond Fischer1920
Awarded the 1992 Nobel Prize for discovering reversible protein phosphorylation as a biological regulatory mechanism.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Alfred Gilman1941
Awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize for the discovery of G-proteins and their role in cellular signal transduction.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Martin Rodbell1925
Awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize for the discovery of G-proteins in cellular signal transduction.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Stanley Prusiner1997
Discovered prions, infectious agents made of misfolded protein alone, the cause of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and scrapie; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1997
Source: Wikipedia — Stanley Prusiner / NobelPrize.org Medicine 1997
Robert Furchgott1916
Awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize for discovering nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Paul Greengard1925
Showed how dopamine and other transmitters act on nerve cells through protein phosphorylation, the basis of slow synaptic transmission; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000
Source: Wikipedia — Paul Greengard / NobelPrize.org Medicine 2000
Eric Kandel2000
Showed in the sea snail Aplysia how learning changes synapses and how short- and long-term memories are stored; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000
Source: Wikipedia — Eric Kandel / NobelPrize.org Medicine 2000
Sydney Brenner2002
Helped establish messenger RNA and the triplet genetic code, and made the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans a model for the genetics of development; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002
Source: Wikipedia — Sydney Brenner / NobelPrize.org Medicine 2002
H. Robert Horvitz1947
Awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize for discoveries on the genetic regulation of programmed cell death (apoptosis).
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Richard Axel1946
Awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize for discovering odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Andrew Fire2006
Nobel laureate in medicine (2006) for the discovery of RNA interference (gene silencing)
Source: Nobel Prize Medicine 2006
Bruce Beutler1957
Found that Toll-like receptor 4 is the sensor of bacterial lipopolysaccharide that switches on innate immunity; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011
Source: Wikipedia — Bruce Beutler / NobelPrize.org Medicine 2011
Ralph Steinman1943
Immunologist who discovered the dendritic cell in 1973 and showed how it switches on adaptive immunity; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011
Source: Wikipedia — Ralph Steinman
James Rothman1950
Biochemist who uncovered the protein machinery of the SNAREs that lets vesicles dock and fuse with their targets inside cells; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013
Source: Wikipedia — James Rothman
Randy Schekman1948
Cell biologist who used yeast genetics to find the genes that govern vesicle traffic and protein secretion in cells; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013
Source: Wikipedia — Randy Schekman
Michael Rosbash1944
Geneticist who with Jeffrey Hall isolated the period gene and showed how its protein drives the feedback loop of the circadian clock; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017
Source: Wikipedia — Michael Rosbash
Harvey Alter1935
Awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
David Julius1955
Awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering receptors for temperature and touch
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biomedical Science
Drew Weissman2023
Physician and immunologist who with Katalin Karikó found the nucleoside base modifications that made mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 possible; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023
Source: Wikipedia — Drew Weissman
Gary Ruvkun1952
Molecular biologist who, with Victor Ambros, discovered microRNA and its role in gene regulation, and showed in 2000 that the second microRNA, let-7, is conserved across animals; Nobel Prize in…
Source: Wikipedia — Gary Ruvkun / NobelPrize.org Medicine 2024