Speaker Profile
PMWC PIONEER AWARD
Discovered PD-L1, paving the way for modern cancer immunotherapy
M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Yale
Biography
Lieping Chen, MD, PhD, is an immunologist and physician-scientist. His research focuses on basic T cell biology and the translation of laboratory discoveries into clinical therapies, with a primary emphasis on cancer immunotherapy.
Dr. Chen’s laboratory is renowned for the 1999 discovery of the B7-H1 (PD-L1) molecule and the subsequent identification of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway as a critical mechanism of immune evasion in the tumor microenvironment. This breakthrough, hailed as the #1 Breakthrough of the Year by Science magazine in 2013, led to the development of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies, which are now global standards of care for a broad spectrum of advanced cancers.
A prolific investigator with over 400 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Chen held faculty positions at the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, and scientist positions in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. before joining Yale University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Razelle Kurzrock, Emory
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Antoni Ribas, UCLA Health (Luminary)
Featured Speakers
• Antoni Ribas, UCLA Health
• Gerold Meinhardt, Daiichi Sankyo
• Katy Rezvani, MD Anderson
• Javad Shahidi, BeOne
• Alicia Zhou, Cancer Research Institute
• Oren Gilad, Aprea Therapeutics
• Adam Palmer, UNC
• Trever Bivona, UCSF
• Laura Volta, Penn Medicine
• Vivek Subbiah, Stanford
• Mark Stewart, Friends of Cancer Research
Precision Immunotherapy After PD-1
Cells, bispecifics, ADCs, and new combination logic after checkpoint failure.
Biomarkers That Matter
Selecting patients for immunotherapy and targeted therapy with decision-grade biomarkers.
Resistance Biology & Adaptive Combination Strategies
How tumors adapt, and how to sequence therapy around that biology.
Which Immune Cells Can Be Programmed In Vivo?
The next wave of immune-cell engineering and where it may matter first.
Rare Cancers, Basket Trials & N-of-1 Playbooks
Moving from histology-agnostic evidence to individualized precision oncology.
PMWC Hall of Impact
Previous Speakers Include
Nobel laureates, technology founders, regulators, CEOs and scientific pioneers who have taken the PMWC stage.
