Dr. Cornelis J. M. Melief is Emeritus Professor and the head of the Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion at the Leiden University Medical Center.

Dr. Melief has made many contributions to our understanding of how the immune system recognizes cancer antigens and activates anti-tumor responses. These have led to innovative immunotherapies, including a vaccine developed by Dr. Melief that targets the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV). For these achievements, he received the 2009 William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Tumor Immunology as well as the 2019 AACR-CRI Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology. His current work is focused on developing new immunotherapies and improving their effectiveness, especially through combination approaches.

In addition to being a member of CRI’s Scientific Advisory Council, Dr. Melief serves on the CLIP Grant Review Committee and is a member of CRI’s global clinical investigator network.