Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019

William Kaelin official Nobel portrait

© Nobel Media. Photo: A. Mahmoud

Prize share: 1/3

Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: A. Mahmoud

Prize share: 1/3

Gregg L. Semenza

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: A. Mahmoud

Prize share: 1/3

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019 was awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza "for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability"

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Sat. 6 Dec 2025. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2019/summary/>

Go to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Nobel Prizes 2019

Fifteen laureates were awarded in 2019, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.

Their work and discoveries range from how cells adapt to changes in levels of oxygen to our ability to fight global poverty.

See them all presented here.

2019 Nobel Laureates

Streams during Nobel Week

Coming up

Watch the 2025 Nobel Prize lectures, Nobel Week Dialogue, the prize award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm and Nobel Peace Prize Forum here at nobelprize.org.

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.