Dr. James Allison is the Regental Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology, Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished University Chair for Cancer Research, Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research, Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform, and Director of the James P. Allison Institute at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Allison has spent a distinguished career studying the regulation of T cell responses and developing strategies for cancer immunotherapy. He earned the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with Dr. Tasuku Honjo, “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.” His current work seeks to improve immune checkpoint blockade therapies currently used by clinicians and identify new targets to unleash the immune system in order to eradicate cancer. He talks about the hunt for the T cell receptor and working to bring CTLA-4 blockade into the clinic. He also discusses what’s next for immunotherapy, including future investigations into myeloid cells, and playing the harmonica in a band.

Overcoming Antibacterial Resistance – A new antibiotic targets multi-drug-resistant bacteria by binding to ribosomes.

Tregs in Visceral Adipose Tissue – Visceral adipose tissue harbors two distinct Treg cell populations: one enriched in males and one enriched in females.

How IL-23 Fuels Tumor Growth – A subset of Tregs are responsible for the tumor-promoting effect of IL-23.

Smoking and the Immune System – Smoking affects adaptive immune responses for years after quitting.

Image courtesy of Dr. James Allison

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