Illustration of human brain projected on screen during the announcement of the winners of the Nobel prize in medicine in Stockholm. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenIllustration of human brain projected on screen during the announcement of the winners of the Nobel prize in medicine in Stockholm. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty ImagesNobel prize in medicine 2026 awarded for research into mysteries of brainThree scientists to share 12m Swedish kronor prize for their work on ‘light-gated ion channels and optogenetics’
The Nobel prize in physiology or medicine 2026 has been awarded to three scientists for their work on investigating the mysteries of the brain.
Karl Deisseroth of both Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, Peter Hegemann of the Humboldt University of Berlin, and Georg Nagel of the University of Würzburg have been awarded the prize “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”.
The Nobel assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, announced the winners on Monday. They will share a prize of 12m Swedish kronor (about £901,500).
The 2026 award is the 117th time the prize has been given. Out of the 235 laureates – including the latest winners – only 14 have been women.
