Fred Ramsdell became the ninth UCLA alumnus to receive the Nobel Prize Monday. 

Ramsdell, who earned his doctorate in microbiology and immunology from UCLA in 1987, received the 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine alongside Mary Brunkow and Shimon Sakaguchi – who hail from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington, and Osaka University in Japan – for discoveries related to immune regulation. 

The trio helped uncover how the gene Foxp3 directs the development of regulatory T cells –  specialized immune cells that prevent the body from becoming overactive and attacking its own tissues, according to the scientific journal Nature. This established the molecular basis for peripheral immune tolerance, according to NPR. Ramsdell, a scientific advisor at Sonoma Biotherapeutics, and his colleagues provided insight into why autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes and lupus occur and offer a framework for therapies that could restore it. 

Chancellor Julio Frenk and Vice Chancellor for UCLA Health Sciences John Mazziotta said in an email to the UCLA community Monday morning that the trio’s research has already led to advancements in treatments for autoimmune diseases, cancer therapies and organ transplantation. They added in the email that Ramsdell’s recognition adds to the university’s long-standing mission of preparing its graduates to make scientific discoveries worthy of global recognition.

“All of us should take pride in seeing a Bruin receive this extraordinary honor,” Frenk and Mazziotta said in the email. “This award reminds us that the UCLA experience truly sets up our graduates to change the world.”