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Fred Ramsdell made headlines last week when he missed the phone call to tell him he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine because he was backpacking near Yellowstone National Park. Ramsdell, Mary Brunkow and Shimon Sakaguchi were awarded the prize for their research on the cells that keep the immune system under control, known as regulatory T cells, or Tregs.

Calling from the freshly snow-covered mountains of Montana, Ramsdell spoke with Endpoints News on Monday about winning the Nobel, cell therapy for autoimmune diseases, and the evolving state of basic science research. Ramsdell currently serves as scientific advisor to Sonoma Biotherapeutics, a company he co-founded and where he was previously chief scientific officer. Before that, he was chief scientist at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.