Tasuku Honjo

Tasuku Honjo co-received the 2018 Nobel Prize with James Allison for his discovery of PD-1 as an immune regulatory receptor and his seminal contributions to understanding PD-1 pathway-mediated T-cell exhaustion that laid the foundation for anti-PD-1 cancer immunotherapy. His laboratory's basic science discoveries directly enabled the development of nivolumab and other PD-1 inhibitors that have transformed oncology. He continues to investigate PD-1 pathway biology and its broader implications for autoimmunity and cancer. Honjo's foundational discoveries represent the scientific basis for one of the most impactful therapeutic advances in cancer history.