Picture this: Fred Ramsdell, fully immersed in the tranquility of a Montana campground, fresh from days of hiking and camping across the majestic Rocky Mountains. Suddenly, his wife, Laura O’Neill, lets out a joyous, thunderous shout. His first thought? A grizzly bear, perhaps.
But no, Laura had just found a sliver of cell service, and her phone was buzzing with an avalanche of messages, all bearing the same incredible news: “You just won the Nobel Prize!”
Fred, whose phone had been dutifully in airplane mode, was initially skeptical. “No, I didn’t,” he retorted. But Laura insisted, “I have 200 text messages saying that you did!”
It turned out they had slept through a 2 a.m. call from the Nobel committee. Dr. Ramsdell, along with two other brilliant minds, had been honored with the 2025 prize for medicine for their groundbreaking work on the immune system. They’d also completely missed the outpouring of congratulations from friends and family. His workplace, Sonoma Biotherapeutics, later humorously noted he “was living his best life and was off the grid on a preplanned hiking trip.”
Dr. Ramsdell, 64, genuinely hadn’t expected any life-altering phone calls that morning; being offline during his holidays is a personal ritual. His wife, however, preferred to stay somewhat connected with loved ones.
“I certainly didn’t expect to win the Nobel Prize,” he later recounted from a Montana hotel. “It never crossed my mind.”
Their stop in Montana, nestled near the famed Yellowstone National Park, marked the near conclusion of a three-week adventure. Last month, Dr. Ramsdell, Ms. O’Neill, their Gordon setter, and rescue husky mix embarked from Seattle, journeying through the stunning mountain ranges of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana in their Toyota 4Runner, complete with a small teardrop trailer.
Professionally, Dr. Ramsdell’s research has significantly advanced the treatment of autoimmune diseases, including various forms of arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease. Outside of the lab, his passion is to disconnect and immerse himself in the wild.
“I spend as much time as I can up in the mountains,” he shared. “We tend to go into the remote areas,” he added, noting their vigilant search for bison, moose, elk, and eagles.
By Monday night, upon reaching a hotel in Livingston, Montana, he finally connected with Thomas Perlmann, the secretary-general of the Nobel Assembly. This call came approximately 20 hours after Dr. Perlmann’s initial attempt. Dr. Perlmann admitted in an interview that reaching a laureate had never been this challenging during his tenure since 2016.
Dr. Ramsdell had tried to call Dr. Perlmann back from the campground, but by then it was 11 p.m. in Sweden, and Dr. Perlmann had already retired for the night. They eventually spoke when Dr. Perlmann woke up at 6:15 a.m. the following Tuesday. “Eventually, it worked,” Dr. Perlmann confirmed.
On Tuesday, Dr. Ramsdell prepared for the final six-hour leg of his journey to his serene fall and winter residence near Whitefish, Montana.
“I was just grateful and humbled by getting the award, super happy for the recognition of the work in general and just looking forward to sharing this with my colleagues, as well,” he expressed, surely with a newfound appreciation for the unexpected turns life — and Nobel committees — can take.