ISB News

Forbes named ISB Distinguished Investigator and 2025 Nobel laureate Mary Brunkow to its 2026 “50 Over 50” Innovation list, which recognizes women making significant contributions later in their careers. Brunkow was recognized for her groundbreaking research into regulatory T cells and discoveries with important implications for autoimmune disease and drug development.

ISB’s Jim Heath and Jennifer Hadlock contributed to a multi-authored paper that was highlighted for finding that people with a higher burden of long COVID symptoms tend to be less physically active and exhibit poorer measures of cardiovascular fitness.

A new collaboration between the Dfam and Repbase databases creates the first fully open resource for transposable element research. This story explores how the unified platform will accelerate genome annotation, evolutionary biology, and biomedical research by making decades of expertly curated data freely available to scientists worldwide.

Scientific American spoke with ISB Distinguished Investigator and 2025 Nobel laureate Mary Brunkow about the challenges facing American science, the resilience of scientists, and reasons for optimism. Brunkow also discusses the importance of communicating science, advances in systems medicine, and her advice for researchers early in their careers.

This feature of Mary Brunkow ahead of the University of Washington commencement highlights her thoughtful perspective on artificial intelligence, scientific curiosity, and the enduring importance of human judgment in research. The story contrasts Brunkow’s measured approach with the broader national debate over AI at college graduations.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal visited ISB, meeting with Nobel laureate Mary Brunkow and ISB leadership for a conversation on ISB’s research, including our work on Long COVID. The visit included a tour of ISB’s labs, followed by a brief program in which Rep. Jayapal read a Congressional Statement for the Record she submitted in honor of Mary’s Nobel Prize and formally presented it to her.