Mary E. Brunkow
Mary Elizabeth Brunkow | |
|---|---|
 Brunkow at the U.S. Embassy Sweden Nobel Laureate reception. | |
| Born | 1961 (age 64–65) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Education | University of Washington (BS) Princeton University (PhD) |
| Known for | FOXP3 |
| Awards | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2025) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Immunology Molecular biology |
| Institutions | Institute for Systems Biology Celltech R&D |
| Thesis | Expression and function of the H19 gene in transgenic mice (1991) |
| Doctoral advisor | Shirley M. Tilghman |
Mary Elizabeth Brunkow[1] (born 1961) is an American molecular biologist, immunologist and Nobel Prize laureate. She is known for co-identifying the gene later named FOXP3 as the cause of the scurfy mouse phenotype, a finding that became foundational for modern regulatory T cell biology.
In 2025, she was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their work in peripheral immune tolerance.
Early life and education
[edit]Brunkow was born in 1961 in Portland, Oregon.[2][3] She graduated from St. Mary's Academy in Portland in 1979.[3]
Brunkow received a Bachelor of Science with a major in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Washington in 1983[4] and a Doctor of Philosophy in molecular biology from Princeton University in 1991.[5] Her doctoral advisor was Shirley M. Tilghman.[5] Her doctoral dissertation was titled Expression and function of the H19 gene in transgenic mice (1991).[1]
Career
[edit]Brunkow worked in industry research in the Seattle area, at Celltech R&D in Bothell, Washington, which is where she and Fred Ramsdell performed their Nobel Prize-winning work on FOXP3,[6] and later she became senior program manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle.[7]
Research
[edit]
Brunkow is a co-author of the 2001 Nature Genetics paper that identified the scurfy gene product, initially termed scurfin and later known as FOXP3, linking its disruption to a fatal lymphoproliferative disorder in mice.[8][9]
Brunkow's most cited work mapped the scurfy defect to FOXP3 and demonstrated that loss of this transcription factor drives uncontrolled T cell activation and lethal lymphoproliferation, positioning FOXP3 at the center of peripheral immune tolerance mediated by regulatory T cells.[8][10] The genetic identification of FOXP3 provided a molecular basis for understanding how the immune system restrains self-reactivity outside the thymus and catalyzed extensive work on regulatory T cell development and function.[9][11]
Honors and awards
[edit]On October 6, 2025, the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, announced that Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi would share the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.[12][13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Brunkow, Mary Elizabeth. "Expression and function of the H19 gene in transgenic mice". ProQuest. ProQuest 303947336. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
- ^ "Mary E. Brunkow – Facts". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
- ^ a b "Scientist who graduated from Portland high school wins Nobel Prize in medicine". The Oregonian. October 6, 2025. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
- ^ "UW alum Mary E. Brunkow awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine". University of Washington. October 6, 2025. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
- ^ a b "Princeton alumna Mary Brunkow *91 receives Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine". Princeton University. October 6, 2025.
- ^ "Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
- ^ Fuller-Wright, Liz (October 6, 2025). "Princeton alumna Mary Brunkow *91 receives Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine". www.princeton.edu. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
- ^ a b Brunkow, Mary E.; Jeffery, Eric W.; Hjerrild, Kathryn A.; Paeper, Bryan; Clark, Lisa B.; Yasayko, Sue-Ann; Wilkinson, J. Erby; Galas, David; Ziegler, Steven F.; Ramsdell, Fred (2001). "Disruption of a new forkhead/winged-helix protein, scurfin, results in the fatal lymphoproliferative disorder of the scurfy mouse". Nature Genetics. 27 (1): 68–73. doi:10.1038/83784. PMID 11138001.
- ^ a b Ramsdell, Fred; Ziegler, Steven F. (2014). "FOXP3 and scurfy: how it all began" (PDF). Nature Reviews Immunology. 14 (5): 343–349. doi:10.1038/nri3650. PMID 24722479.
- ^ Bluestone, Jeffrey A. (2017). "FOXP3, the Transcription Factor at the Heart of the Rebirth of Immune Tolerance". The Journal of Immunology. 198 (3): 979–980. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1602060. PMID 28115585.
- ^ Golzari-Sorkheh, Mahdieh; Zúñiga-Pflücker, Juan Carlos (2023). "Development and function of FOXP3+ regulators of immune responses". Clinical and Experimental Immunology. 213 (1): 13–22. doi:10.1093/cei/uxad048. PMC 10324550. PMID 37085947.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in medicine goes to 3 scientists for work on peripheral immune tolerance". AP News. October 6, 2025.
- ^ "Brunkow, Ramsdell and Sakaguchi win 2025 Nobel medicine prize". Reuters. October 6, 2025.
External links
[edit]- Mary E. Brunkow on Nobelprize.org
- Mary E. Brunkow – Institute for Systems Biology
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
- 1961 births
- Living people
- American immunologists
- American women molecular biologists
- American Nobel laureates
- Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine
- Women Nobel laureates
- American women immunologists
- American molecular biologists
- Scientists from Portland, Oregon
- University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni
- Princeton University alumni
- 20th-century American biologists
- 21st-century American biologists
- 21st-century American women scientists
- St. Mary's Academy (Portland, Oregon) alumni
- 20th-century American women biologists