Distinguished Professor Honjo
Tasuku Honjo, distinguished professor at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS), has been selected to receive the 2017 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize for his seminal discoveries in the field of cancer immunotherapy.
The Warren Alpert Foundation, in association with Harvard Medical School, honors pioneering scientists whose work has led to the understanding, prevention, treatment, or cure of human diseases. This year, five scientists, including Honjo, have jointly received the prize for their transformative findings that hold the promise to alter the understanding of disease development and treatment.
Honjo was recognized for the discovery of the programmed death 1 (PD-1) gene, a gene expressed on activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and its role in the negative regulation of anti-tumor immune responses.
The award ceremony and a symposium will take place 5 October 2017 at Harvard Medical School.
Comment by Distinguished Professor Tasuku Honjo
I am extremely honored to receive the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. I am very happy that our discovery of PD-1 in 1992 and subsequent 10 years of basic research on PD-1 led to its clinical application as a novel cancer immunotherapy. I hope this development will encourage many scientists working in the field of basic biomedical research.
Related link
- Harvard Medical School: Warren Alpert Foundation Honors Five Pioneers in Cancer Immunology
https://hms.harvard.edu/news/warren-alpert-foundation-honors-pioneers-cancer-immunology
