Does Scientist Svetlana Mogusova Deserve the Nobel Prize in Medicine?
After decades of working out of the spotlight, the name of Svetlana Mojsov, an American scientist of Macedonian origin, has become firmly established in the scientific community, thanks to her foundational contributions to research on the hormone GLP-1. Her work paved the way for the development of a new generation of diabetes and obesity medications, including treatments based on semaglutide, such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Mojsov, who currently holds the position of Research Professor at Rockefeller University, began her career in peptide synthesis before shifting her focus to GLP-1 research in the 1980s. Her studies helped identify the biologically active form of the hormone, leading to a protracted dispute in which she fought to establish her contribution to patents related to its use in treating diabetes. Her name was subsequently added as a co-inventor on several patents. This episode represents just one aspect of a scientific career spanning nearly four decades, which contributed to laying the groundwork for a therapeutic revolution that has transformed the management of diabetes and obesity.
In the mid-1980s, Mojsov helped demonstrate the presence of the active form of GLP-1 in the intestine. She also participated in a study published in 1987 that showed the hormone’s ability to stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin. Subsequent research confirmed its effects in humans and its capacity to help lower blood glucose levels, a discovery that opened the door to considering the GLP-1 pathway as a treatment for diabetes. Mojsov had begun her research on the hormone in the early 1980s.
After years of development, scientists and pharmaceutical companies succeeded in creating compounds that mimic the effects of GLP-1 and remain active in the body for longer periods, culminating in modern drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy. Consequently, Mojsov is not scientifically described as the “inventor of Ozempic,” but rather as one of the scientists whose discoveries helped establish the scientific foundation upon which these drugs are built.
For years, Mojsov’s role remained less prominent in the public narrative surrounding the discovery of GLP-1, before her contributions gradually gained broader scientific recognition. In recent years, she has received a number of prestigious international awards, including the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, in recognition of the contributions that led to the development of GLP-1 treatments. In 2026, Clarivate selected Mojsov, alongside Daniel Drucker and Jens Juul Holst, for its list of Citation Laureates in Medicine, honoring their contributions to the identification of GLP-1 and the characterization of its biological activity. However, the list is not an official nomination for the Nobel Prize; the names of actual candidates remain confidential. Clarivate selects scientists whose research impact it believes places them among those with achievements historically associated with the Nobel Prize.
