Dr. James Allison

James Patrick Allison is a pioneering immunologist and Nobel laureate whose groundbreaking work in cancer research has transformed the landscape of cancer treatment. He holds the positions of Regental Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology, the Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished University Chair for Cancer Research, Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research, Executive Director of Immunotherapy Platform and Director of the James P. Allison Institute at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas.

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 discoveries have led to new cancer treatments for the deadliest cancers. He has a longstanding interest in mechanisms of T-cell development and activation, the development of novel strategies for tumor immunotherapy, and is recognized as one of the first people to isolate the T-cell antigen receptor complex protein.

Dr. Allison is a member of the National Academies of Science and Medicine, and among the numerous honors bestowed upon him is the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, which he received in 2015. His current work seeks to improve immune checkpoint blockade therapies used by clinicians and identify new targets to unleash the immune system in order to eradicate cancer.

Dr. Allison pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from the University of Texas, Austin, followed by a PhD in biological sciences from the same institution. He was driven to work in cancer research after losing his mother to lymphoma, two uncles to melanoma and lung cancer, and his brother to prostate cancer. His journey from his Texas childhood to his relentless pursuit of a cancer cure is chronicled in the documentary "James Allison: Breakthrough."