Immunology

The spectacular successes that have been achieved in the immune management of various clinical conditions and especially cancer were borne out of basic research that was creatively exploited by translational researchers. No one could have predicted that investigating how or why virus-induced lymphocytic leukemia needs to develop in the neonatal mouse thymus would reveal the latter’s immunological function. The extensive worldwide research that followed was crucial to our understanding of what cells and molecules regulate T cell activation and how this may be used to our benefit in the clinic.