Pamela Björkman, the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering; and Jim Eisenstein, the Frank J. Roshek Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Emeritus; have each been honored with the Wolf Prize in their respective disciplines.
As per the Wolf Foundation, the Wolf Prize “recognizes scientists and artists globally for their exceptional contributions towards furthering science and the arts for the welfare of humanity.”
Björkman, who also holds the title of Merkin Institute Professor, is the laureate of the 2025 Wolf Prize in Medicine “for developing groundbreaking strategies to bypass viral defenses through innovative antibody-oriented tactics.” The citation for Björkman’s prestigious achievements indicates that her significant work commenced during her tenure at Harvard University as a graduate scholar and postdoctoral fellow, where she first embraced the challenge of revealing the structural foundations of T cell recognition of viral and other antigens attached to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Her contributions unveiled the intricate interaction through which T cells, a type of leukocyte crucial to the immune system, identify and eliminate cells infected by viruses.
While her research is particularly pertinent to HIV studies, Björkman’s investigations also illuminated the structures of various MHC-associated proteins serving diverse roles, such as maternal/fetal antibody transfer and the metabolism of iron and lipids. Her ongoing efforts regarding HIV immune mechanisms have equipped her to confront the task of designing vaccines for coronaviruses—including SARS-CoV-2—her latest research endeavor.
“The challenge with HIV lies in the multitude of virus strains, and it is ineffective to prevent merely one variant, particularly while pursuing a universal vaccine,” Björkman clarifies. “Since the early 2000s, we have been attempting to decipher how antibodies recognize various strains of HIV when they manage to do so. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted our approaches from HIV, and to an extent from influenza, to investigate how antibodies sourced from COVID-19 donors interacted with the coronavirus spike protein.”
This initiative has allowed Björkman to pinpoint regions within the receptor-binding domain that promote viral attachment to host cells, which are likely conserved among SARS-CoV-2 variants and related animal coronaviruses. Thus, this could potentially fend off not only a single strain of SARS-CoV-2 or related animal viruses but all of them. “Numerous viruses associated with SARS-CoV-2 in animals have yet to cross over into humans, but it is only a matter of time,” Björkman asserts. “Most existing vaccines target only a single SARS-CoV-2 variant, whereas the vaccine we developed is designed to stimulate antibodies capable of combating all SARS-CoV-2–related pathogens. We have confirmed its efficacy against SARS-CoV, which emerged in the human population in the early 2000s, and the vaccine appears likely to safeguard against all related viruses.”
Eisenstein has been awarded the 2025 Wolf Prize in Physics alongside Moty Heiblum from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and Jainendra Jain of Pennsylvania State University “for enhancing our comprehension of the astonishing characteristics of two-dimensional electron systems in strong magnetic fields.” Heiblum and Eisenstein are practitioners in experimental science, whereas Jain is a theorist.
Although a two-dimensional electron system might seem obscure, Eisenstein highlights their prevalence in contemporary electronic devices. In the most refined instances, such systems are so devoid of impurities and defects that extremely subtle collective quantum mechanical phenomena of the electrons can be observed under specific conditions. Cases include the various quantum Hall effects where, as noted in the Wolf Prize citation, electrical current is occasionally conducted by peculiar new particles that hold a precise fraction of the charge of a conventional electron.
In this realm of inquiry, Eisenstein is notably intrigued by the collective dynamics of a pair of two-dimensional electron systems, one layer situated atop the other. Together with his Caltech research team, he discovered that at exceptionally low temperatures and in high magnetic fields, the electrons of each layer can bind to the vacancies between the electrons (commonly known as “holes”) in the other layer. These resultant electron-hole pairs coalesce into a collective state with extraordinary characteristics whose identification and examination rely on methodologies conceived by Eisenstein.
While the real-world implications of this exploration are nearly impossible to forecast, Eisenstein remarks that superconductivity, the prime example of collective electron behavior, was uncovered over a century ago by scientists operating in a lab quite similar to his. Those investigators, of course, were oblivious to the fact that seven decades later, their findings would significantly transform medical diagnostics through advances such as magnetic resonance imaging.
“Receiving the Wolf Prize is a wonderful experience,” Eisenstein asserts. “It’s an indication from the scientific community that the efforts undertaken by myself and my two colleagues are significant enough to deserve this accolade.”
Björkman shares similar thoughts, expressing her astonishment at being informed of the honor via a phone call from Israel, where the Wolf Foundation is situated. “I normally wouldn’t have answered the call, but nowadays I respond to everything because I’m concerned it could pertain to the fire remediation work being carried out at our home in Altadena.” The Wolf Prize encompasses both a commendation and a monetary reward of $100,000.