American geneticist Mary Brunkow, alongside Frederick Ramsdell and Shimon Sagakuchi, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work identifying the Foxp3 gene mutation in mice that causes autoimmune diseases.Their combined research, which includes Sagakuchi's 1995 discovery of regulatory T-cells, significantly advanced understanding of immune system regulation and opened new avenues for treating autoimmune diseases, cancer, and organ transplantation.