Lieping Chen, MD, PhD
Dr. Lieping Chen is a United Technologies Corporation Professor in Cancer Research, Professor of Immunobiology, Medicine (Medical Oncology), and Dermatology, and Co-Leader, Cancer Immunology Program at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. Prior to joining Yale, Dr. Chen was a faculty member at Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic and also a scientist at the Bristol Myers Squibb Company. His laboratory studies the cell-surface proteins that control lymphocyte function, and he also translates his laboratory findings for treating human diseases including cancer.
Dr. Chen did the first proof-of-concept study in 1992 demonstrating that the B7-CD28 family molecules could be the targets for cancer immunotherapy by introducing B7-1 into tumor cells to enhance therapeutic immunity. In 1999, he discovered the B7-H1 (also called PD-L1) molecule and subsequently demonstrated the role of PD-L1 in the evasion of tumor immunity and established the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway as the target for cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Chen also initiated and helped organize the first-in-human clinical trial of an anti–PD-1 antibody for treating cancer and developed PD-L1 detection as a biomarker to predict therapeutic outcomes. These discoveries directly led to the development of anti–PD-1/PD-L1 antibody therapy for a broad spectrum of human cancers. His laboratory also discovered many molecular pathways with immune modulatory functions, as well as their applications in disease treatment. These discoveries led to the development of therapeutic agents in various stages of clinical trials for the treatment of cancer.
In recognition of his scientific achievements, Dr. Chen has been awarded several honors, including the William B. Coley Award in 2014, the AAI-Steinman Award in 2016, the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in 2017, the Giants of Cancer Care award in 2018, and the Richard V. Smalley Award in 2020. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the AACR Academy.