James P. Allison

James Allison is a co-founder of Jounce Therapeutics and currently serves as chair of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Immunology and director of the Immunotherapy Platform. A leading tumor immunologist, Dr. Allison has a longstanding interest in mechanisms of T-cell development and activation, as well as the development of novel strategies for tumor immunotherapy, and he is recognized as the first person to isolate the T-cell antigen receptor protein. His research led to the clinical development of ipilimumab (Yervoy™), which was approved in 2011 by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Previously, he was director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and the chair of the immunology program at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, as well as the David H. Koch Chair in Immunologic Studies and attending immunologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Allison is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Previously, he served as president of the American Association of Immunologists. He has received worldwide recognition for his contributions, including the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the Discovery of Cancer Therapy by Inhibition of Negative Immune Regulation, the Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award, the Canada Gairdner International Award, the Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for Innovative Cancer Immunology Research.

Dr. Allison received his B.S. in microbiology and his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Texas.