Medical discoveries

This selection brings together events, individual lives, and awards related to medicine. Those types can be separated in the atlas: a biography or prize is not equivalent to a medical discovery.

Canonical records
400
Events
155
People
236
Processes and periods
9
Compare in the atlasSelection criteria and limits

Topics represented

Medicine (270) · Nobel laureates (233) · People (233) · Physiology or Medicine (116) · Nobel Prizes (116) · Science (43) · Epidemics & public health (7) · Personas científicas (6) · Roman Empire (3) · Vacunación (3) · VIH/sida (3) · Antirretrovirales (2)

View distribution by region and period
Canonical records by regional label and start date. These are numerical analysis bins, not universal historical periods. A multi-region record appears in multiple rows; do not add rows as a unique-record total.
RegionBefore 3000 BCE3000–1 BCE1–14991500–17991800–18991900–1999Since 2000
Africa0030230
Americas0000261152
Asia00402120
Europe01345817028
Oceania0000260
Global / no specific region01102131

Records and sources

Ordered by start date. Long lives and processes may begin before the period you want to study.

  1. 1933–2017

    Sir Peter Mansfield

    Sir Peter Mansfield (1933–2017) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2003). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  2. 1933–2025

    Sir John B. Gurdon

    Sir John B. Gurdon (1933–2025) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2012). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  3. 1934

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1934

    The 1934 award linked this prize to George H. Whipple, George R. Minot and William P. Murphy. This event records institutional recognition; it does not date the discovery, work, or action being recognized.

  4. 1934–1994

    Howard M. Temin

    Howard M. Temin (1934–1994) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1975). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  5. 1934–2024

    Bengt I. Samuelsson

    Bengt I. Samuelsson (1934–2024) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1982). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  6. 1935

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1935

    The 1935 award linked this prize to Hans Spemann. This event records institutional recognition; it does not date the discovery, work, or action being recognized.

  7. 1935–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Satoshi Ōmura

    Satoshi Ōmura (1935–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2015). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  8. 1935–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Harvey J. Alter

    Harvey J. Alter (1935–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2020). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  9. c. 1935

    Antibacterial sulfonamides

    The development of sulfonamides opens a chemical-treatment route against certain bacterial infections before penicillin’s mass production.

  10. 1936

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1936

    The 1936 award linked this prize to Sir Henry Dale and Otto Loewi. This event records institutional recognition; it does not date the discovery, work, or action being recognized.

  11. 1936–2026

    J. Michael Bishop

    J. Michael Bishop (1936–2026) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1989). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  12. 1936–2023

    Ferid Murad

    Ferid Murad (1936–2023) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1998). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  13. 1936–2018

    Günter Blobel

    Günter Blobel (1936–2018) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1999). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  14. 1936–2023

    Harald zur Hausen

    Harald zur Hausen (1936–2023) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2008). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  15. 1937

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1937

    The 1937 award linked this prize to Albert Szent-Györgyi. This event records institutional recognition; it does not date the discovery, work, or action being recognized.

  16. 1937–2024

    J. Robin Warren

    J. Robin Warren (1937–2024) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2005). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  17. 1937–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Mario R. Capecchi

    Mario R. Capecchi (1937–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2007). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  18. 1938

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1938

    The 1938 award linked this prize to Corneille Heymans. This event records institutional recognition; it does not date the discovery, work, or action being recognized.

  19. 1938–2025

    David Baltimore

    David Baltimore (1938–2025) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1975). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  20. 1939

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1939

    The 1939 award linked this prize to Gerhard Domagk. This event records institutional recognition; it does not date the discovery, work, or action being recognized. Adolf Hitler’s regime prevented Gerhard Domagk from accepting the prize at the time; he later received the diploma and medal, but not the prize amount.

  21. 1939–2026

    Susumu Tonegawa

    Susumu Tonegawa (1939–2026) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1987). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  22. 1939–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Harold E. Varmus

    Harold E. Varmus (1939–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1989). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  23. 1939–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Leland Hartwell

    Leland Hartwell (1939–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2001). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  24. 1939–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    John O'Keefe

    John O'Keefe (1939–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2014). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  25. 1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Joseph L. Goldstein

    Joseph L. Goldstein (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1985). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  26. 1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Peter C. Doherty

    Peter C. Doherty (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1996). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  27. 1941–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Michael S. Brown

    Michael S. Brown (1941–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1985). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  28. 1941–2015

    Alfred G. Gilman

    Alfred G. Gilman (1941–2015) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1994). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  29. 1941–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Louis J. Ignarro

    Louis J. Ignarro (1941–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1998). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.

  30. 1941–… (as of 2026-09-01)

    Sir Martin J. Evans

    Sir Martin J. Evans (1941–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2007). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.