Former Scripps Research postdoctoral associate James P. Allison wins the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
October 01, 2018
Understanding how to shut off cancerous tumors' ability to hide from immune attack has given doctors new tools to fight cancers such as melanoma. For his discovery of how to reawaken immune system attacks on cancer, former Scripps Research postdoctoral associate James P. Allison, PhD, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday, alongside Japanese immunologist Tasuku Honjo, MD, PhD.
Advancing the concept of immunotherapies for cancer has been an undertaking, says Michael Oldstone, MD, professor at Scripps Research. Allison deserves a lot of credit for bringing that therapy from the bench into humans.
Allison trained as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of noted Scripps Research immunologist Ralph Reisfeld, PhD, from 1974 to 1977. In addition to his legacy in advancing cancer therapeutics, Scripps Research scientists know him as a determined scientist and skilled mentor.
The birth of a new therapy
Allison's innovative focus on optimizing the immune response, rather than specifically targeting tumors, proved revolutionary, says Wendy Havran, PhD, a professor in the Scripps Research Department of Immunology and Microbiology, who worked as a postdoctoral researcher under Allison at the University of California, Berkeley. Checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has saved numerous lives and provides hope to many cancer patients, she says.
In the 1970s, immunologists including Oldstone worked at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, predecessor of Scripps Research. They focused on basic science, characterizing how the immune system recognized pathogens. They hoped to understand not only how the immune system recognized attackers, but also why the immune system sometimes becomes overzealous and attacks the body's own cells.
Argyrios Theofilopoulos, MD, a professor at Scripps Research, recalls the intensity of the work happening on the Scripps Research campus at that time, and the steps Reisfeld and Allison were taking to advance the field.
The institute was very famous already for our work on immunological aspects of diseases, Theofilopoulos says. At that time we knew nothing about T cell receptors. They were trying to identify the peptides that were presented to T cells, and thereby identify the T cell receptor.
In 1974, Allison accepted a position working with Reisfeld, an expert on major histocompatibility complex, critical to discernment of self versus attacker. Their work focused on the interaction among proteins called human leukocyte antigens and T cells. By 1977, Allison and a colleague, G. N. Callahan, reported in a letter to the journal Nature that they had found evidence that the immune system was prevented from attacking cancer cells due to an association between pathogenic markers and additional proteins.
Finding the factors that cloaked cancer from immune attack, then developing techniques to suppress the cloaking system, eventually led to the development of checkpoint-blockade cancer immunotherapies such as ipilimumab (Yervoy). It has inspired a new generation of immunologists focused on making more types of cancer visible to immune attack, among them, immunologist Mark Sundrud, PhD, associate professor at Scripps Research in Florida.
This highlights the life-changing implications of understanding how the immune system works at a fundamental level, Sundrud says.
Training the next generation of researchers
Oldstone remembers Allison as a postdoctoral researcher with incredible potential, saying, He was very smart and very determined. Interestingly, Allison's colleagues at the time included Rafi Ahmed, PhD, who has advanced cancer immunotherapies at Emory University, and Robert Schreiber, PhD, who has pioneered cancer immunoediting at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Scripps Research has a long history of training postdoctoral researchers for impactful careers in science. Postdocs come from all over the world to improve human health in an environment that fosters collaboration, creativity, and scientific excellence, says Ryan Wheeler, director of the Career, International and Postdoctoral Services Office at Scripps Research.
After leaving Scripps Research, Allison moved to UC Berkeley, and went on to become Head of Immunology at Sloan-Kettering in New York. Today he is with M.D. Anderson in Texas, where he is currently Chair of Immunology.
Havran says her work with Allison continues to inspire her.
Jim took an unexpected basic science discovery, funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, saw the implications, and was able to translate it to the clinic to treat cancer patients, she says. It is every researchers dream.
Immunology & Microbiology Awards and honors
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/06/2026
Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...
02/06/2026
Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...
02/06/2026
Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...
02/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...
02/06/2026
Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...
02/06/2026
NHL Network's 2026 Stanley Cup Final coverage began June 1 with NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Media Day from the Carolina Hurricanes' Lenovo Center at ...
02/06/2026
Matrox Video has announced the Maevex MGX Series, a lineup of IPMX-ready video e...
02/06/2026
Marshall Electronics will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7521), showcasing a lineup of 4K and HD compact POV cameras for corporate, education, hospitality, wo...
02/06/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...
02/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C50...
02/06/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced the promotion of Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO. In his new role, Marchitto will oversee system design across ...
02/06/2026
The NHL has announced that Brothers Osborne will headline a free outdoor concert...
02/06/2026
CP Communications has announced the appointment of its first two female executives in the company's 40-year history. Tabitha Coleman has been named Vice Pre...
02/06/2026
The Lighting Design Group (LDG) has announced the completion of Studio C at Yahoo's headquarters at 770 Broadway in Manhattan. The studio launched April 24 ...
02/06/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Z) has announced a partnership with FIFA to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA World Cup 2030, FIFA Women's World Cup 2...
02/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
02/06/2026
The department is broadcasting NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Plainsman Park this weekend
Broadcast and production crews at Division I institutions are busy ...
02/06/2026
The initiative is extends beyond the league's arenas to team training rinks,...
02/06/2026
Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Pen lope Cruz, and Edward Norton appear in The Invite by Olivia Wilde, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Co...
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designed to simplify the trans...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
The TV agency was one of the earliest adopters of Nielsen's local television...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Grass Valley today announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP to transform its newsroom produc...
02/06/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces its new Model 385 Mic/Intercom Beltpack. The Mode...
02/06/2026
The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 2...
02/06/2026
More signals, higher quality, and outstanding ingest and streaming flexibility deliver professional results in a small, all-in-one footprint...
02/06/2026
farmerswife will be featured on the Modena Media & Entertainment stand at this year's Mediatech Africa 2026, giving visitors an opportunity to explore the l...
02/06/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17 19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Wuppertal June 2, 2026
Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel N...
02/06/2026
Back to All News
Discover Your Next Book-to-Screen Obsession With Our New Dedicated Hub
Product
02 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Dear most vor...
02/06/2026
New LinkedIn Data: 90% of C-Suite Leaders are Continuously Building Skills to Lead in the AI Era Published on Jun 2, 2026 Categories: Data and insights
Lin...
02/06/2026
Trust has become a commercial issue With global advertising spend forecast to exceed US$1 trillion this year*, the commercial consequences of weak governance co...
Former Scripps Research postdoctoral associate James P. Allison wins the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 
