‘Yeah, I Have? Wow’: Scientist Learns Of Nobel Win While On Hiking Trip

Last Updated:October 07, 2025, 19:48 IST

The Nobel Committee had tried for hours to reach Fred Ramsdell, who was trekking and camping.

Nobel winner immunologist Fred Ramsdell was on a hiking trip when the awards were announced.

Immunologist Fred Ramsdell was miles from phone signal, hiking through the rugged mountains of the western United States, when he unknowingly became a Nobel laureate. The 64-year-old American scientist was announced as one of three winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine but he didn’t find out until hours later.

Fred Ramsdell, a co-founder of Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, shares the award with Mary Brunkow of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle and Shimon Sakaguchi of Osaka University in Japan. The Nobel Committee cited their “fundamental discoveries" explaining how the immune system controls itself- a breakthrough that has transformed understanding of autoimmune disease and cancer.

A Surprise In The Wild For Fred Ramsdell

The Nobel Committee had tried for hours to reach Fred Ramsdell, who was trekking and camping through the backcountry of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. When his wife, Laura O’Neill, suddenly screamed during a roadside stop, Fred Ramsdell assumed the worst.

“They were still in the wild and there are plenty of grizzly bears there, so he was quite worried when she let out a yell," said Thomas Perlmann, secretary general of the Nobel Committee, adding, “Fortunately, it was the Nobel prize."

Laura O’Neill had just seen dozens of congratulatory messages light up her phone. Fred Ramsdell told The New York Times he was stunned, “It never crossed my mind. I certainly didn’t expect to win the Nobel prize."

A spokesperson for Sonoma Biotherapeutics confirmed he had been unreachable for hours, saying he was “living his best life" and “off the grid." His friend and colleague Jeffrey Bluestone, who co-founded the lab, said he “had been trying to get a hold of him" but suspected “he may be backpacking."

Why Fred Ramsdell Won The Nobel

Fred Ramsdell and his co-laureates were honored for uncovering how a subset of white blood cells called T-cells prevent the body’s immune system from turning against itself. Their work helped explain the function of regulatory T-cells, sometimes called the “security guards" of the immune system, which keep inflammation in check and prevent autoimmune disorders.

The Nobel Committee said their discoveries “paved the way for new therapies against autoimmune diseases, organ rejection, and certain cancers."

When Nobel Laureates Missed The Call

Missing Nobel calls has become a time-honored tradition. When Bob Wilson won the 2020 economics prize, he hung up on the committee in the middle of the night, thinking it was a prank. When his co-winner Paul Milgrom didn’t pick up either, Wilson walked to his house and rang the bell.

Footage from Paul Milgrom’s security camera later showed him answering the door in his pajamas, confused, muttering: “Yeah, I have? Wow."

Musician Bob Dylan famously ignored his 2016 Nobel for literature for days, while in 2011, one of the medicine laureates had already died by the time the prize was announced.

News world ‘Yeah, I Have? Wow’: Scientist Learns Of Nobel Win While On Hiking Trip

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