Max Krummel

Dr. Max Krummel is a UCSF immunologist who co-discovered with James Allison that CTLA-4 acts as a negative regulator of T cell activation, the foundational observation that led to cancer immunotherapy. His experiments demonstrated that blocking CTLA-4 with antibody enhances T cell responses and can eradicate established tumors in mice, establishing the checkpoint blockade concept. His later work on T cell imaging and synapse formation has continued to illuminate fundamental immune mechanisms relevant to cancer immunotherapy.