Gordon Freeman

Dr. Freeman is a Professor of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His laboratory studies the contribution of costimulatory signals to the immune response. Following the discovery of PD-L1 and PD-L2 as the ligands for the PD-1 receptor on T cells, the Freeman Lab demonstrated their inhibitory function on T cells and showed that the blockade of this pathway enhanced T cell activation, proliferation, and cytokine production. Further studies showed that PD-L1 is highly expressed by many solid tumors/hematological malignancies and that the blockade of PD-L1 enhances the killing of PD-L1 positive targets by CD8 T cells. Recently, PD-1 blocking antibodies were approved by the FDA for the treatment of melanoma and lung cancer.

Dr. Freeman received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and also joined DFCI that year. He did postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Harvey Cantor and then with Dr. Lee Nadler.