list of nobel laureates in physiology or medicine list of nobel laureates in physiology or medicine the nobel prize in physiology or medicine (swedish: nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin) is awarded annually by the swedish karolinska institute to scientists in the various fields of physiology or medicine. it is one of the five nobel prizes established by the 1895 will of alfred nobel (who died in 1896), awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. as dictated by nobel's will, the award is administered by the nobel foundation and awarded by a committee that consists of five members and an executive secretary elected by the karolinska institute. while commonly referred to as the nobel prize in medicine, nobel specifically stated that the prize be awarded for "physiology or medicine" in his will. because of this, the prize can be awarded in a broader range of fields. the first nobel prize in physiology or medicine was awarded in 1901 to emil adolf von behring, of germany. each recipient receives a medal, a diploma and a monetary award that has varied throughout the years. in 1901, von behring received 150,782 sek, which was equal to 7,731,004 sek in december 2008. the award is presented in stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 december, the anniversary of nobel's death. front side (obverse) of the nobel prize medal for physiology or medicine laureates have won the nobel prize in a wide range of fields that relate to physiology or medicine. as of 2009, 8 prizes have been awarded for contributions in the field of signal transduction by g proteins and second messengers, 13 have been awarded for contributions in the field of neurobiology and 13 have been awarded for contributions in intermediary metabolism. in 1939 gerhard domagk, a german, was not allowed by his government to accept the prize. he later received a medal and diploma, but not the money. as of 2021, the prize has been awarded to 224 individuals, twelve of them were women (gerty cori being the first to be awarded in 1947). there have been nine years in which the nobel prize in physiology or medicine was not awarded (1915–1918, 1921, 1925, 1940–1942). there were also five years for which the nobel prize in physiology or medicine was delayed for one year. the prize was not awarded in 1914, as the nobel committee for physiology or medicine decided that none of that year's nominations met the necessary criteria, but was awarded to robert bárány in 1915 and counted as the 1914 prize. this precedent was followed for the 1922 prize awarded to archibald hill and otto fritz meyerhof in 1923, the 1926 prize awarded to johannes fibiger in 1927, the 1938 prize awarded to corneille heymans in 1939, and the 1943 prize awarded to henrik dam and edward adelbert doisy in 1944. laureates 1901 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 year image laureate country rationale ref 1901 emil adolf von behring (1854-1917) germany "for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths" 1902 sir ronald ross (1857-1932) united kingdom india "for his work on malaria, by which he has shown how it enters the organism and thereby has laid the foundation for successful research on this disease and methods of combating it" 1903 niels ryberg finsen (1860-1904) denmark( faroe islands) " his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science" 1904 ivan petrovich pavlov (1849-1936) russia "in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged" 1905 robert koch (1843-1910) germany "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis" 1906 camillo golgi (1843-1926) italy "in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system" santiago ramón y cajal (1852-1934) spain 1907 charles louis alphonse laveran (1845-1922) france "in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases" 1908 ilya ilyich mechnikov (1845-1916) russia "in recognition of their work on immunity" paul ehrlich (1854-1915) germany 1909 emil theodor kocher (1841-1917) switzerland "for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland" 1910 albrecht kossel (1853-1927) germany "in recognition of the contributions to our knowledge of cell chemistry made through his work on proteins, including the nucleic substances" 1911 allvar gullstrand (1862-1930) sweden "for his work on the dioptrics of the eye" 1912 alexis carrel (1873-1944) france " his work on vascular suture and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs" 1913 charles richet (1850-1935) france " his work on anaphylaxis" 1914 robert bárány (1876-1936) austria-hungary "for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus" 1915 not awarded 1916 1917 1918 1919 jules bordet (1870-1961) belgium "for his discoveries relating to immunity" 1920 schack august steenberg krogh (1874-1949) denmark "for his discovery of the capillary motor regulating mechanism" 1921 not awarded 1922 archibald vivian hill (1886-1977) united kingdom "for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle" otto fritz meyerhof (1884-1951) germany "for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle" 1923 sir frederick grant banting (1891-1941) canada "for the discovery of insulin" john james rickard macleod (1876-1935) united kingdom 1924 willem einthoven (1860-1927) netherlands "for the discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram" 1925 not awarded 1926 johannes andreas grib fibiger (1867-1928) denmark "for his discovery of the spiroptera carcinoma" 1927 julius wagner-jauregg (1857-1940) austria "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica" 1928 charles jules henri nicolle (1866-1936) france "for his work on typhus" 1929 christiaan eijkman (1868-1930) netherlands "for his discovery of the antineuritic vitamin" sir frederick gowland hopkins (1861-1947) united kingdom "for his discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins" 1930 karl landsteiner (1868-1943) austria "for his discovery of human blood groups" 1931 otto heinrich warburg (1883-1970) germany "for his discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme" 1932 sir charles scott sherrington (1857-1952) united kingdom "for their discoveries regarding the functions of neurons" edgar douglas adrian (1889-1977) united kingdom 1933 thomas hunt morgan (1866-1945) united states "for his discoveries concerning the role played by the chromosome in heredity" 1934 george hoyt whipple (1878-1976) united states "for their discoveries concerning liver therapy in cases of anaemia" george richards minot (1885-1950) united states william parry murphy (1892-1987) united states 1935 hans spemann (1869-1941) germany "for his discovery of the organizer effect in embryonic development" 1936 sir henry hallett dale (1875-1968) united kingdom "for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses" otto loewi (1873-1961) austria germany 1937 albert szent-györgyi von nagyrapolt (1893-1986) hungary "for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin c and the catalysis of fumaric acid" 1938 corneille jean françois heymans (1892-1968) belgium "for the discovery of the role played by the sinus and aortic mechanisms in the regulation of respiration" 1939 gerhard domagk (1895-1964) germany "for the discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil" 1940 not awarded 1941 1942 1943 carl peter henrik dam (1895-1976) denmark "for his discovery of vitamin k" edward adelbert doisy (1893-1986) united states "for his discovery of the chemical nature of vitamin k" 1944 joseph erlanger (1874-1965) united states "for their discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibres" herbert spencer gasser (1888-1963) united states 1945 sir alexander fleming (1881-1955) united kingdom "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases" sir ernst boris chain (1906-1979) united kingdom howard walter florey (1898-1968) australia 1946 hermann joseph muller (1890-1967) united states "for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of x-ray irradiation" 1947 carl ferdinand cori (1896-1984) united states "for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen" gerty theresa cori, née radnitz (1896-1957) united states bernardo alberto houssay (1887-1971) argentina "for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar" 1948 paul hermann müller (1899-1965) switzerland "for his discovery of the high efficiency of ddt as a contact poison against several arthropods" 1949 walter rudolf hess (1881-1973) switzerland "for his discovery of the functional organization of the interbrain as a coordinator of the activities of the internal organs" antónio caetano egas moniz (1874-1955) portugal "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy (lobotomy) in certain psychoses" 1950 philip showalter hench (1896-1965) united states "for their discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects" edward calvin kendall (1886-1972) united states tadeusz reichstein (1897-1996) switzerland poland 1951 max theiler (1899-1972) south africa united states "for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it" 1952 selman abraham waksman (1888-1973) united states "for his discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis" 1953 sir hans adolf krebs (1900-1981) united kingdom "for his discovery of the citric acid cycle" fritz albert lipmann (1899-1986) united states germany "for his discovery of co-enzyme a and its importance for intermediary metabolism" 1954 john franklin enders (1897-1985) united states "for their discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue" frederick chapman robbins (1916-2003) united states thomas huckle weller (1915-2008) united states 1955 axel hugo theodor theorell (1903-1982) sweden "for his discoveries concerning the nature and mode of action of oxidation enzymes" 1956 andré frédéric cournand (1895-1988) united states "for their discoveries concerning heart catheterization and pathological changes in the circulatory system" werner forssmann (1904-1979) west germany dickinson w. richards (1895-1973) united states 1957 daniel bovet (1907-1992) italy "for his discoveries relating to synthetic compounds that inhibit the action of certain body substances, and especially their action on the vascular system and the skeletal muscles" 1958 george wells beadle (1903-1989) united states "for their discovery that genes act by regulating definite chemical events" edward lawrie tatum (1909-1975) united states joshua lederberg (1925-2008) united states "for his discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organization of the genetic material of bacteria" 1959 arthur kornberg (1918-2007) united states "for their discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid" severo ochoa (1905-1993) spain united states 1960 sir frank macfarlane burnet (1899-1985) australia "for discovery of acquired immunological tolerance" sir peter brian medawar (1915-1987) brazil united kingdom 1961 georg von békésy (1899-1972) hungary "for his discoveries of the physical mechanism of stimulation within the cochlea" 1962 francis harry compton crick (1916-2004) united kingdom "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material" james dewey watson (b. 1928) united states maurice hugh frederick wilkins (1916-2004) new zealand united kingdom 1963 sir john carew eccles (1903-1997) australia "for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane" sir alan lloyd hodgkin (1914-1998) united kingdom sir andrew fielding huxley (1917-2012) united kingdom 1964 konrad bloch (1912-2000) united states "for their discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism" feodor lynen (1911-1979) west germany 1965 françois jacob (1920-2013) france "for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis" andré lwoff (1902-1994) france jacques monod (1910-1976) france 1966 peyton rous (1879-1970) united states "for his discovery of tumour-inducing viruses" charles brenton huggins (1901-1997) united states "for his discoveries concerning hormonal treatment of prostatic cancer" 1967 ragnar granit (1900-1991) finland sweden "for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye" haldan keffer hartline (1903-1983) united states george wald (1906-1997) united states 1968 robert w. holley (1922-1993) united states "for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis" har gobind khorana (1922-2011) india united states marshall w. nirenberg (1927-2010) united states 1969 max delbrück (1906-1981) united states "for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses" alfred d. hershey (1908-1997) united states salvador e.