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The 2025 Crafoord Prize laureates

The Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis 2025, worth SEK six million, is awarded to Christopher Goodnow, Australia, and David Nemazee, USA.
“It’s the most amazing phone call of my life! I’m honoured and very happy that the Academy gives this recognition to basic science, providing the foundations for understanding and treating disease. It’s also wonderful to share the prize with David Nemazee. We were friendly competitors working at different places in the world, and the two of us arrived at complementary answers at a time when most working in the field didn’t believe B cell tolerance was a thing,” comments Christopher Goodnow.
The Crafoord Prize
The Crafoord Prize is awarded in partnership between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Crafoord Foundation in Lund, Sweden. The Academy is responsible for selecting the laureates. The disciplines, which change every year, are mathematics and astronomy, polyarthritis (systemic diseases that cause inflammation in the joints) geosciences and biosciences. Holger Crafoord, whose donation established the foundation, suffered himself from rheumatoid arthritis.
The laureates will share six million Swedish kronor equally. The prize will be awarded in conjunction with Crafoord Days in Lund and Stockholm from 5 – 8 May and will be presented to the laureates by H. M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Christopher Goodnow and David Nemazee
Christopher Goodnow: The Bill and Patricia Ritchie Foundation Chair, Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Professor at Cellular Genomics Futures Institute, School of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Australia. Born in Hong Kong 1959. Received his PhD at University of Sydney 1990.
David Nemazee: Professor at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, California, USA. Born in Shiraz, Iran 1956. Received his PhD at Harvard University 1983.
Important mechanisms
Goodnow and Nemazee discovered important mechanisms that prevent B cells from attacking the body’s own tissues in autoimmune disease. Knowledge that could pave the way for new treatments for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis.
“They have given us a new and detailed understanding of the mechanisms that normally prevent faulty B cells from attacking tissues in the body, explaining why most of us are not affected by autoimmune diseases,” says Olle Kämpe, member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and chair of the prize committee.
Using existing drugs to neutralize B cells
In recent years, physicians have started to experiment by using existing drugs to neutralize B cells for patients with severe autoimmune diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. This has proven to be very effective.
“I have really seen the potential of these treatments. Many of my patients are much better and have improved their quality of life,” says Anders Bengtsson, professor of rheumatology at Lund University and consultant at Skåne University Hospital.
Published: January 30, 2025
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