The Nobel Prize bestows international recognition for outstanding contributions to the fields of chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. By pushing the boundaries of discovery, innovation, translation and dissemination, several of our distinguished faculty members have been recipients of this prestigious award.
Johns Hopkins and the Nobel Prize
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29
Nobel laureates affiliated with Johns Hopkins
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16
Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine
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3
Nobel prizes in chemistry
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4
Nobel laureates currently at Johns Hopkins
Meet the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Nobel Laureates
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Gregg Semenza, M.D., Ph.D.
C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Genetic Medicine, Pediatrics, Oncology, Medicine, Radiation Oncology and Biological Chemistry
Director of the Vascular Program at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering
Dr. Semenza was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He shares the award with William G. Kaelin, Jr., M.D. of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Peter J. Ratcliffe of Oxford University. The Academy recognized him for his ground-breaking discovery in the laboratory of hypoxia inducible factor 1 or HIF-1, which helps cells cope with low oxygen levels. The discovery has far-reaching implications in understanding low oxygen health conditions such as coronary artery disease and tumor growth.
Carol Greider, Ph.D.
University Professor
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Dr. Greider, one of the world’s pioneering researchers on the structure of chromosome ends known as telomeres, was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her improbable discovery of telomerase – a remarkable enzyme that restores telomeres and protects them from damage – catalyzed an explosion of scientific studies which, to this day, probe connections between telomerase and telomeres to human cancer and diseases of aging.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Peter Agre, M.D.
Bloomberg Distinguished Professor
Director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
Dr. Agre received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovery of the aquaporin water channels. Referred to as the "plumbing system of cells," aquaporins facilitate the movement of water across cell membranes [rapid osmosis]. Aquaporins are responsible for generation all biological fluids - cerebrospinal fluid, aqueous humor, tears, sweat, saliva, and concentration of urine. Aquaporins are also involved in plant biology and infectious diseases.
