This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Immunologist wins medal of honor

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

James P. Allison, PhD, chair of immunology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, received the American Cancer Society’s 2015 Medal of Honor for Basic Research.

“It’s a particular honor to receive this recognition from an organization so dedicated to finding cures for cancer,” Allison said in a press release. “For an immunologist who didn’t set out to address cancer, it’s also gratifying to see the impact of immunotherapy affirmed by this award.”

James P. Allison

Allison’s research led directly to new cancer therapies that free the immune system to attack tumors, a treatment approach known as immune checkpoint blockade.

“Jim Allison’s much-deserved recognition by the American Cancer Society reminds us that progress against cancer starts with basic scientists who illuminate the details of life at the molecular level,” Ronald A. DePinho, MD, president, MD Anderson, said in the press release. “Jim’s brilliance and avid pursuit of his curiosity about the fundamentals of T cells already have saved the lives of thousands of cancer patients and kept untold numbers of families together, and there is much research and discovery still to come based on his breakthrough.”