The winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine missed the good news because he turned off his phone while climbing the mountain.

(Dan Tri) - While camping in the mountains of Montana, USA, Dr. Fred Ramsdell did not know that he had just become the owner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

According to Reuters news agency, on the morning of October 6, Dr. Fred Ramsdell and his wife, Laura O'Neill, were stopping at a campsite near Yellowstone National Park (USA) after a three-week trip across the Rocky Mountains.

When Ms. O'Neill's phone got a signal again, hundreds of text messages appeared with the same content: "Congratulations on winning the Nobel Prize."

She screamed in surprise, making her husband think she had just seen a grizzly bear. Mr. Ramsdell, whose phone was still on airplane mode, initially didn't believe it.

“No, you didn’t win,” he said. But his wife insisted: “I got more than 200 text messages saying you won.”

Dr. Fred Ramsdell (Photo: UCLA).

The Nobel Committee said it tried to contact him at 2am (local time) to inform him of the result, but no one answered the phone.

It took nearly 20 hours for the Nobel Assembly Secretary General, Thomas Perlmann, to finally speak to the American scientist . “This has been the most difficult case to contact since I took office in 2016,” Mr. Perlmann shared.

Sonoma Biotherapeutics, where Mr. Ramsdell works, told the media that he was “enjoying life and staying out of the spotlight.”

After regaining signal, Mr. Ramsdell tried to call Mr. Perlmann again, but it was already midnight in Sweden. The formal exchange did not take place until the following morning.

Work that paves the way for immunotherapy

Dr. Fred Ramsdell, 64, is a veteran American immunologist. He received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1987 and worked at several leading research institutes before joining Sonoma Biotherapeutics, a San Francisco biotechnology company that develops immune cell therapies.

He and two colleagues, Ms. Mary Brunkow (USA) and Professor Shimon Sakaguchi (Japan), were awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of regulatory T cells.

These are the cells that act as “gatekeepers” of the immune system, helping to prevent the body from attacking its own healthy cells.

This discovery is considered a turning point in modern immunology. It helps explain how the immune system maintains the balance between protective and autoimmune responses, and paves the way for treatments for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes.

Regulatory T cell-based immunomodulatory therapies are also currently being tested in the treatment of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Scientists believe this work has laid the foundation for a completely new field of research, where the immune system is controlled more precisely to both protect the body and limit side effects.

Scientist loves mountains and quietness

In addition to his lab work, Mr. Ramsdell is a nature enthusiast. Every year, he and his wife take long trips into the wilderness to “unplug” from the world of technology.

“I spend as much time in the mountains as possible,” he said. “When I’m there, I have no phone, no email, no news. I just enjoy the nature and the silence.”

This trip lasted three weeks, passing through Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. They brought their two dogs and were completely disconnected from the internet. When the good news arrived, they were just a short stop from Seattle.

After officially learning he had won the award, Mr. Ramsdell said he felt grateful and humbled by the great honor.

“I never thought about receiving the Nobel Prize. What makes me happiest is being able to share this achievement with colleagues who have accompanied me for many years,” the scientist shared.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/khoa-hoc/chu-nhan-giai-nobel-y-hoc-2025-bo-lo-tin-vui-vi-tat-dien-thoai-leo-nui-20251008072801970.htm