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Dr. Mary Brunkow is a 
Distinguished Investigator 
at the Institute for Systems 
Biology (ISB) in Seattle 
and a proud University of 
Washington alumna.  The 
University this year awarded 
her with the highest honor 
it may bestow upon an 
alumnus, the Alumna Summa 
Laude Dignata Award.
Among her many awards 
and accolades, Dr. Brunkow 
received the 2025 Nobel Prize 
in Physiology or Medicine 
with Drs. Fred Ramsdell 
and Shimon Sakaguchi for 
their landmark discoveries 
that reshaped modern 
immunology. Their work 
revealed how the immune 
system maintains tolerance 
to self, including identification 
of the FOXP3 gene and the 
essential role of regulatory 
T cells in preventing 
autoimmune disease, opening 
the door to new approaches 
to treating a wide range of 
immune‑related disorders.
After earning her Bachelor 
of Science in biology from 
the UW in 1983, Brunkow 
completed her MS and PhD 
at Princeton University and 
conducted her postdoctoral research at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute (now the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum 
Research Institute) in Toronto. In 1994, she returned to Washington state to join the Darwin Molecular Corporation 
(later acquired by Celltech Chiroscience), a pioneering gene‑discovery biotechnology company where she 
contributed to discoveries that presaged her Nobel‑recognized work.
At ISB, Dr. Brunkow plays a central role in advancing systems biology—integrating genetics, genomics, and 
computational science to illuminate diseases including Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and bipolar disorder. Throughout 
her distinguished scientific career, she has embodied the UW’s mission to advance the public good through 
discovery and innovation. 
Dr. Brunkow resides in Seattle with her family, including her husband, Ross, and their twin daughters, Lauren and 
Devon.
Commencement Speaker

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