Nobel Winner Fred Ramsdell Unaware Of His Win, Currently Off-Grid On A Hiking Trip
Fred Ramsdell, jointly awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Mary Brunkow and Shimon Sakaguchi for their immune system discoveries, is unreachable on an off-grid hiking trip.
One of this year’s Nobel Prize winners for medicine is blissfully unaware of his big win — because he’s currently “living his best life” on an off-grid hiking trip. According to a spokesperson from his San Francisco-based lab, Sonoma Biotherapeutics, US-based immunologist Fred Ramsdell is yet to be informed about his Nobel honour.
Ramsdell Among 2025 Nobel Medicine Laureates
Ramsdell was jointly awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine alongside Mary Brunkow of Seattle and Shimon Sakaguchi of Osaka University in Japan. The trio received the prestigious recognition for their groundbreaking discoveries about the functioning of the immune system.
However, when the Nobel Committee tried to contact Ramsdell, they couldn’t reach him. As reported by The Guardian, Jeffrey Bluestone — Ramsdell’s friend and co-founder of his lab — confirmed that the scientist is currently unreachable.
“I have been trying to get a hold of him myself. I think he may be backpacking in the backcountry in Idaho,” Bluestone said.
Missed Calls and Unreachable Laureates
Interestingly, Ramsdell wasn’t the only one hard to reach. Initially, the Nobel Committee also failed to connect with co-winner Mary Brunkow, though she was eventually informed.
“I asked them to, if they have a chance, call me back,” said Thomas Perlmann, secretary-general of the Nobel Committee, during the announcement press conference.
Groundbreaking Work on Immune System
The Nobel Prize this year celebrates the trio’s pioneering research on regulatory T-cells — the immune system’s “security guards” responsible for maintaining balance and preventing autoimmune diseases. Their discoveries around “peripheral immune tolerance” have opened doors to innovative treatments for autoimmune disorders.
Sakaguchi first made a key breakthrough in 1995 when he identified a previously unknown class of immune cells that protect the body from self-attacks. Later, in 2001, Brunkow and Ramsdell contributed the next crucial piece of the puzzle, solidifying the understanding of immune regulation.
Not the First Time Nobel Winners Have Missed the Call
The Nobel Committee’s difficulty in reaching laureates isn’t new. In 2020, economists Bob Wilson and Paul Milgrom were both asleep when the call announcing their win came through. Wilson famously had to walk over to Milgrom’s house to wake him up and deliver the news. A video from Milgrom’s security camera even captured his surprised reaction: “Yeah I have? Wow.”
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