NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) Grand Rounds

Dr. Pardoll is an Abeloff Professor of Oncology,Medicine, Pathology and Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns HopkinsUniversity, School of Medicine. He isDirector of the Cancer Immunology in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive CancerCenter. Dr. Pardoll attended JohnsHopkins University, where he earned his M.D., Ph.D., in 1982 and completed hisMedical Residency and Oncology Fellowship in 1985. He then worked for threeyears at the National Institutes of Health as a Medical Staff Fellow. Dr. Pardoll joined the departments ofoncology and medicine in 1988. Dr. Pardoll has published over 300 papers aswell as over 20 book chapters on the subject of T cell immunology and cancervaccines. He has served on the editorialboard of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Cell, and hasserved as a member of scientificadvisory boards for the Cancer Research Institute, the University ofPennsylvania Human Gene Therapy Gene Institute, Biologic Resources Branch ofthe National Cancer Institute, Harvard-Dana Farber Cancer Center, Cerus Corporation,Global Medical Products Corporation, Genencor Corporation, CellGenesysCorporation, Mojave Therapeutics, the American Association of Clinical Oncologyand the American Association of Cancer Research. Dr. Pardoll has made a number of basic advancesin Cellular Immunology, including the discovery of gamma - delta T cells, NKTcells and interferon-producing killer dendritic cells. Over the past two decades, Dr. Pardoll hasstudied molecular aspects of dendritic cell biology and immune regulation, particularlyrelated to mechanisms by which cancer cells evade elimination by the immunesystem. He is an inventor of a number of immunotherapies, including GVAX cancervaccines and Listeria monocytogenes based cancer vaccines. Dr. Pardoll’s basicimmunology discoveries include the identification of γδ-Tcells, NKT cells and IKDC. He elucidated the role of Stat3 signaling in tumorimmune evasion and in Th17 development, leading to the discovery thatStat3-driven Th17 responses promote carcinogenesis. Dr. Pardoll discovered oneof the two ligands for the PD-1 inhibitory receptor and leads the Hopkinscancer immunology program that developed PD-1 pathway-targeted antibodies,demonstrating their clinical activity in multiple cancer types. His more than300 articles cover cancer vaccines, gene therapies, cancer preventiontechnologies, recombinant immune modulatory agents for specific pathways thatregulate immunity to cancer and infectious diseases.