Lieping Chen

Lieping Chen, M.D., Ph.D., is United Technologies Corporation Professor in Cancer Research at Yale School of Medicine, with appointments in Immunobiology, Dermatology, and Medical Oncology. He serves as Co-Leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at Yale Cancer Center and Visiting Professor at Ludwig Oxford Branch, University of Oxford. Dr. Chen is internationally recognized for discovering PD-L1 (B7-H1) and elucidating its critical role in tumor immune evasion. In 1999, while at Mayo Clinic, he first discovered B7-H1 (now called PD-L1), publishing in Nature Medicine—a discovery made independently and shortly before Freeman's team confirmed it as a PD-1 ligand in 2000. Together, these studies defined the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway. In 2002, Chen published another landmark Nature Medicine paper demonstrating that PD-L1 is highly expressed on human cancers but absent from normal tissues, and that tumor-associated B7-H1 promotes T-cell apoptosis, enabling immune evasion. In 2006, Chen initiated and helped organize the first-in-human clinical trial using anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies for treating cancer and developed PD-L1 staining as a biomarker. These discoveries directly led to development of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody therapies—including pembrolizumab (Keytruda), nivolumab (Opdivo), and atezolizumab (Tecentriq)—now approved for over 25 cancer types, revolutionizing cancer treatment. Science magazine recognized cancer immunotherapy as its 2013 "Breakthrough of the Year," with Chen's work forming a cornerstone of this achievement. Beyond PD-L1, Chen systematically identified multiple immunoregulatory pathways including B7-H2 (ICOSL), B7-H3, B7-H4, B7-H5/CD28H, and PD-1H (VISTA), many now in clinical development for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Chen earned his M.D. from Fujian Medical College (1982), M.S. in Immunology from Beijing Union Medical College (1986), and Ph.D. from Drexel University (1989). He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2021) and is a Fellow of the AACR Academy (2021) and Academia Sinica (2018). His honors include the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2017, shared with Allison, Freeman, Honjo, and Sharpe), AAI-Steinman Award (2016), William B. Coley Award (2014), Giants of Cancer Care (2018), and Richard V. Smalley Memorial Award (2020).

Lieping Chen (陈列平) 博士(医学博士、哲学博士)是耶鲁大学医学院联合技术公司癌症研究讲席教授,在免疫生物学、皮肤病学和医学肿瘤学系任职。他担任耶鲁癌症中心癌症免疫学项目联合负责人和牛津大学Ludwig分部访问教授。 Chen博士因发现PD-L1 (B7-H1) 并阐明其在肿瘤免疫逃逸中的关键作用而享誉国际。1999年在Mayo Clinic时,他首次发现B7-H1 (现称PD-L1),发表于Nature Medicine——这一独立发现略早于Freeman团队2000年确认其为PD-1配体的工作。两项研究共同定义了PD-1/PD-L1通路。2002年,Chen发表另一篇Nature Medicine里程碑论文,证明PD-L1在人类癌症中高表达但在正常组织中缺失,肿瘤相关B7-H1促进T细胞凋亡,使免疫逃逸成为可能。 2006年,Chen发起并帮助组织首个使用抗PD-1单克隆抗体治疗癌症的人类临床试验,并开发PD-L1染色作为生物标志物。这些发现直接促成抗PD-1/PD-L1抗体疗法的开发——包括pembrolizumab (Keytruda)、nivolumab (Opdivo) 和atezolizumab (Tecentriq)——现已批准用于25+种癌症类型,彻底改变癌症治疗。Science杂志将癌症免疫治疗评为2013年"年度突破",Chen的工作是这一成就的核心基石。 除PD-L1外,Chen系统识别了多个免疫调节通路,包括B7-H2 (ICOSL)、B7-H3、B7-H4、B7-H5/CD28H和PD-1H (VISTA),其中许多已进入癌症和自身免疫疾病临床开发。 Chen获福建医学院医学博士(1982)、北京协和医学院免疫学硕士(1986)和Drexel大学哲学博士(1989)。2021年当选美国国家科学院院士和AACR Academy院士,2018年当选台湾中央研究院院士。他的荣誉包括2017年Warren Alpert基金会奖(与Allison、Freeman、Honjo和Sharpe共享)、2016年AAI-Steinman奖、2014年William B. Coley奖、2018年Giants of Cancer Care奖和2020年Richard V. Smalley纪念奖。