{"entity":{"id":"gordon-freeman","kind":"person","name":"Gordon J. Freeman","aka":[],"tldr":"Showed that PD-L1 is the ligand for PD-1 and that the pair switches T cells off, the foundation of checkpoint immunotherapy.","summary":"Gordon Freeman, with Arlene Sharpe and Tasuku Honjo, identified PD-L1 and PD-L2 as the ligands of PD-1 in 2000 and 2001 and showed that engagement inhibits T-cell activation, defining the pathway that pembrolizumab, nivolumab and atezolizumab block. He holds foundational patents on PD-1 pathway blockade and shared the Warren Alpert Prize; his laboratory continues to study checkpoint mechanisms.","asOf":"2026-09-10","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_J._Freeman","links":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Freeman%20GJ%5BAuthor%5D%20PD-L1"}],"tags":["immunotherapy","discovery","pd-1"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["checkpoint-inhibitor"],"targets":["pdl1","pd1"],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["dana-farber"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-topalian-anti-pd1-nejm-2012"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Professor of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School","institutionId":"dana-farber","specialisms":["PD-1/PD-L1 pathway","T-cell costimulation","Immune checkpoint biology"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Freeman%20GJ%5BAuthor%5D%20PD-L1"}],"papers":[{"title":"Engagement of the PD-1 immunoinhibitory receptor by a novel B7 family member leads to negative regulation of lymphocyte activation","journal":"Journal of Experimental Medicine","year":2000,"doi":"10.1084/jem.192.7.1027"},{"title":"PD-L2 is a second ligand for PD-1 and inhibits T cell activation","journal":"Nature Immunology","year":2001,"doi":"10.1038/85330"},{"title":"Topalian 2012: the first large trial of a PD-1 antibody shows durable responses across melanoma, lung and kidney cancer","journal":"New England Journal of Medicine","year":2012,"url":"https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1200690","doi":"10.1056/NEJMoa1200690"}],"orcid":"0000-0002-7210-5616"},"route":"/people/gordon-freeman/","neighbours":{"technology":[{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"}],"target":[{"id":"pd1","kind":"target","name":"PD-1","route":"/targets/pd1/"},{"id":"pdl1","kind":"target","name":"PD-L1","route":"/targets/pdl1/"}],"institution":[{"id":"dana-farber","kind":"institution","name":"Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/dana-farber/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-topalian-anti-pd1-nejm-2012","kind":"paper","name":"Topalian 2012: the first large trial of a PD-1 antibody shows durable responses across melanoma, lung and kidney cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-topalian-anti-pd1-nejm-2012/"}]}}