Baruj Benacerraf

Baruj Benacerraf shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1980 for discovering major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes controlling immune responses. His work on immune response genes (Ir genes) established the genetic basis for variability in immune responses to antigens. These discoveries laid the foundation for understanding how tumor neoantigens are presented to T cells via MHC molecules, which is fundamental to cancer immunotherapy and vaccine design. His contributions to understanding antigen presentation remain foundational to all current cancer immunotherapy.