Sir Peter was announced as a winner of the Prize alongside William G Kaelin, Jr of Harvard University and Gregg L Semenza of Johns Hopkins University. Together they discovered the key mechanisms that our cells use to detect and respond to low oxygen levels, known as 'hypoxia'.
Every cell in the body needs the right amount of oxygen to function and survive. When our blood has too little oxygen, our kidneys send signals to boost red blood cell production to carry more oxygen. At his Oxford laboratory, Sir Peter discovered a universal mechanism for detecting and responding to hypoxia that has since been found in all our cells.
The full story is available on the University of Oxford website