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Immunologist wins medical research award
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James P. Allison, PhD, chair of immunology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, received the Lasker-DeBakery Clinical Medical Research Award from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.
The award is the nation’s highest honor for clinical medical research.
James P. Allison
“I’m honored and grateful to receive the Lasker award,” Allison said in a press release. “As a basic scientist, I was pleasantly surprised, really kind of stunned, to receive the clinical award. This award is also important recognition of the early success of cancer immunotherapy and its great potential to extend survival of cancer patients for decades and ultimately to cure some types of cancer.”
Allison’s research led to the development of checkpoint blockade as a cancer treatment approach.
“Jim Allison found a way to remove the brakes that stop T cells from fighting tumor cells —– a discovery that opens brand new and very effective ways to treat cancer,” Joseph Goldstein, MD, chair of the Lasker Medical Research Awards Jury and chair of molecular genetics at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said in the press release.