Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine 429
Year Laureate(s) Discovery
1957 Daniel Bovet (1907–1992; Italy) mechanisms through which certain drugs can block the actions and
effects of endogenous substances
1956 André F. Cournand (1895–1988; USA) use of cardiac catheterization to diagnosis diseases of the heart and
Werner Forssmann (1904–1979; Germany) blood vessels
Dickinson W. Richards (1895–1973; USA)
1955 (Axel) Hugo (Theodor) Theorell (1903–1982; mechanisms through which enzymes that cause oxidation function
Sweden)
1954 John F. Enders (1897–1985; USA) laboratory culture of the poliomyelitis virus in different kinds of tissues
Thomas H. Weller (b. 1915; USA)
Frederick C. Robbins (1916–2003; USA)
1953 Hans Krebs (1900–1981; UK) Krebs: metabolic process within the cell that converts nutrients to
Fritz Lipmann (1899–1986; USA) energy (now called the Krebs cycle)
Lipmann: coenzyme A and its role in cellular metabolism
1952 Selman A. Waksman (1888–1973; USA) streptomycin, first antibiotic to treat tuberculosis
1951 Max Theiler (1899–1972; South Africa) mechanisms of and treatment for yellow fever
1950 Edward C. Kendall (1886–1972; USA) isolation and functions within the body of cortisone and other
Tadeus Reichstein (1897–1996; hormones of the adrenal cortex
Switzerland)
Philip S. Hench (1896–1965; USA)
1949 Walter Hess (1881–1973; Switzerland) Hess: activities of the midbrain as they regulate the body’s autonomic
Egas Moniz (1874–1955; Portugal) vital functions
Moniz: prefrontal leucotomy (surgery to sever connections between
regions of the brain responsible for intense emotional responses,
notably anger) to treat schizophrenia
1948 Paul Müller (1899–1965; Switzerland) use of the organic pesticide DDT to eradicate insects responsible for
transmitting disease
1947 Carl Cori (1897–1984; USA) Cori and Cori: conversion of glycogen to glucose
Gerty Cori (1897–1957; USA) Houssay: role of the hypophysis in carbohydrate metabolism and
Bernardo Houssay (1887–1971; Argentina) diabetes
1946 Hermann J. Muller (1890–1967; USA) capability of X-rays to cause gene mutations
1945 Sir Alexander Fleming (1881–1955; UK) penicillin and its ability to cure infectious diseases
Ernst B. Chain (1906–1979; UK)
Sir Howard Florey (1898–1968; Australia)
1944 Joseph Erlanger (1874–1965; USA) varying conductivity and function of single fibers within nerves
Herbert S. Gasser (1888–1963; USA)