James Allison has a longstanding interest the in the mechanisms of T cell activation and its regulation, as well as developing novel strategies for immunotherapy of cancer. He has made many significant contributions to our understanding T cell costimulation and inhibition, and conceived the notion of immune checkpoint blockade for the therapy of cancer. He is currently the Chairman of the Immunology Program, Director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, David H. Koch Chair in Immunologic Studies, and Attending Immunologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, and of the Institute of Medicine.
