**Nobel Winner Goes Off-Grid; Committee Unable to Trace Him**
*By Dwaipayan Roy | Oct 07, 2025, 04:22 PM*
Fred Ramsdell, one of this year’s Nobel Prize winners in Medicine, is currently unreachable. Ramsdell was honored alongside Mary Brunkow and Shimon Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking research on the immune system. However, Ramsdell’s decision to go off the grid during a hiking trip has made it impossible for both the Nobel committee and his colleagues to get in touch with him.
**Colleague’s Statement: Brunkow Also Initially Unreachable**
Jeffrey Bluestone, co-founder of Sonoma Biotherapeutics and a friend of Ramsdell, confirmed that attempts to contact Ramsdell have so far been unsuccessful. Bluestone believes Ramsdell might be backpacking in Idaho’s remote backcountry. Similarly, the Nobel committee faced challenges reaching Mary Brunkow, as both researchers reside on the US West Coast, which is nine hours behind Stockholm.
**Communication Challenges for the Nobel Committee**
Thomas Perlmann, Secretary General of the Nobel committee, revealed that the team has been actively trying to contact the winners. “I have asked them to call me back if they get a chance,” he said. Eventually, the committee managed to reach Brunkow, but Ramsdell remains out of contact.
**Award-Winning Research Opens New Treatment Avenues**
The Nobel Prize was awarded to Ramsdell, Brunkow, and Sakaguchi for their pioneering research that identified regulatory T-cells as the “security guards” of the immune system. Their discoveries have opened a new field of research and paved the way for potential medical treatments, some of which are currently undergoing clinical trials.
The initial major discovery was made by Sakaguchi in 1995, followed by significant contributions from Ramsdell and Brunkow in 2001, together deepening our understanding of immune regulation.
As the medical community celebrates these achievements, all eyes remain on Ramsdell, hoping for his safe return and communication soon.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/us-researcher-unreachable-after-nobel-prize-win/story