This year’s Nobel Prize announcements begin Monday with the award for medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists for their discoveries on how the immune system distinguishes harmful germs from the body’s own healthy cells.
Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi were recognized for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, a key process that helps prevent the immune system from attacking the body itself.
Experts said their findings are important for understanding autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
The medicine prize will be followed by the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday, while the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is scheduled to be announced on Oct. 12.
The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million, for each prize, whether it is awarded to an individual, a small group of laureates or an organization.