Stanford Scientist Wins Nobel Prize in Physiology, Medicine

Karl Deisseroth, a professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, was among the trio of researchers awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday.

Deisseroth, along with Peter Hegemann from Humboldt University of Berlin and Georg Nagel of the University of Würzburg, also in Germany, won “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics,” according to the Nobel Foundation. Essentially, that means they figured out how to turn on and off the individual nerve cells in a brain using light—known as optogenetics—which can lead to greater understanding of how memories, feelings and behaviors are formed.

“Optogenetics provides opportunities for mapping the brain in a way that we could once only dream of,” said Per Svenningsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine.

Each scientist focused on a different part of the process.

“I couldn’t be happier because the trio that the committee picked spans the progression from the early algal explorations all the way to advanced neuroscience experiments, so this prize really captures the full journey of discovery,” Deisseroth told Stanford.

Deisseroth missed the initial call from the Nobel committee, which came at 12:27 a.m. Pacific time. The committee members then called his wife, Michelle Monje, a pediatric neuro-oncologist at Stanford. “May we speak with Karl?” they asked.

The three winners will divide the roughly $1.2 million prize equally.