# Joseph Trapani

Source: https://onco.cc/people/trapani-joseph/  
OnCo record `trapani-joseph` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

An immunologist who worked out how killer T cells destroy their targets, and now directs research at Australia's cancer hospital.

## Summary

Joseph Trapani is an immunologist and Executive Director of Cancer Research at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. His laboratory defined the perforin and granzyme pathway by which cytotoxic lymphocytes kill their targets, and applied that understanding to immunotherapy and CAR-T cell research. His publications include a review of the pro-apoptotic, antiviral and antitumour functions of granzyme B, the discovery that CMTM6 maintains PD-L1 expression and regulates anti-tumour immunity, and a study showing that tumour immune evasion can arise through loss of TNF sensitivity. He now leads the research division at Australia's cancer hospital, with interests in cancer immunology, cell therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Role: Executive Director, Cancer Research, Peter Mac; immunologist
- Specialisms: Cancer immunology; Cytotoxic lymphocytes; Perforin and granzymes; Cell therapy

## Sources

- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre: https://www.petermac.org
- PubMed author search: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Trapani%20JA%5BAuthor%5D%20perforin

## Connected records

- technologies: [CAR-T cell therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/car-t/), [Immune checkpoint inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/)
- institutions: [Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre](https://onco.cc/institutions/peter-mac/)

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