Cornelis J.M. Melief, MD, PhD
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has recognized Cornelis J.M. Melief, MD, PhD, with the seventh AACR–Cancer Research Institute (CRI) Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology. Dr. Melief is Emeritus Professor at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, as well as Chief Scientific Officer at ISA Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Melief is honored for his discovery of the mechanisms of immune recognition of cancer antigens and activation of antitumor responses, and for his role in the development of innovative immunotherapies, including a vaccine against the human papillomavirus. He currently focuses on developing new immunotherapies and improving their effectiveness through combination regimens.
As a member of the AACR, Dr. Melief served as a member of the Immunology Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2011. He also has served as a member of the editorial board of the AACR journal, Cancer Research.
Awards and Experience
Dr. Melief has been recognized with many scientific honors, including the SOFI Prize Leiden in 1986, the AkzoNobel Prize in 1995, the European Federation of Immunological Societies Lecture Award in 2007, the Ceppellini Lecture from the European Society of Immunogenetics in 2009, the William B. Coley Award from the Cancer Research Institute in 2009, and the Queen Wilhelmina Research Prize from the Dutch Cancer Society in 2010.
He earned his doctorate in 1967 and his medical degree in 1970, both from the University of Amsterdam. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Central Laboratory of the Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (CLB), the Tufts Medical Center, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He went on to serve as a scientific staff member of CLB Amsterdam, leading a newly formed Department of Experimental Tumor Immunology. He became Head of the Division of Immunology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and then went on to lead the Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion at Leiden University Medical Center. ■
