Meet The CheckPoints: A Band of Researchers and Oncologists Giving Cancer Treble
If Eddie and Alex Van Halen hadn’t asked David Lee Roth to join their band so they wouldn’t have to keep renting his PA system, would we have Van Halen? If Larry Mullen, Jr., never posted a note on his high school bulletin board looking for band members, would he have ever met Paul Hewson (Bono), David Evans (The Edge), and Adam Clayton and formed U2? If Roger Waters and Nick Mason weren’t both studying architecture in London, would we have Pink Floyd? And if it wasn’t for one very long escalator ride at a medical conference in Chicago, would we have The CheckPoints?
The CheckPoints may not have the same name recognition as those other bands, but they are well-known among cancer researchers—both for their contributions to the field of immuno-oncology and their ability to bring the house down at any conference where they perform. That includes the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 where they had the audience singing “We Are the Champions” and “Don’t Stop Believin’.” They are ready to once again rock this year’s AACR Annual Meeting during the Annual Reception on Sunday, April 27, in Chicago—the city where it all began for them.
In 2007, Patrick Hwu, MD, Rachel Humphrey, MD, and Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD, had just wrapped up a sparsely attended series of lectures on immuno-oncology—this was back when the idea still had its doubters. It was the final day of the conference and the three of them were headed out. While embarking on an escalator ride long enough to “eat a tuna sandwich,” as Humphrey described it, Hwu mentioned he wanted to start a blues band, similar to the bands he had played in as a resident at Johns Hopkins and then a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Gajewski played the guitar, so he was in. Humphrey chimed in that she could sing. By the time they reached the bottom, they had a solid plan. A couple of hours later, they recruited James P. Allison, PhD, FAACR, to play the harmonica.
After a few performances, Allison suggested they call themselves The CheckPoints—a nod to their contributions to the first immune checkpoint inhibitor, ipilimumab. Allison was the researcher who discovered the function of CTLA-4 and how it could act as a brake on T cells and developed ipilimumab to block it, a discovery for which he received the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Humphrey was the senior supervisor of the global development for ipilimumab at Bristol Myers Squibb. And Gajewski and Hwu were clinician-scientists who were treating patients with ipilimumab, while making their own strides in immuno-oncology.
Over the years, the band added percussionists, a horn section, additional vocalists, a bass player, and more. Now, The CheckPoints has over a dozen members who are all cancer researchers, medical oncologists, or other professionals in the field of immuno-oncology. Before you enjoy their performance at the AACR Annual Meeting 2025, here’s an opportunity to learn a little about their work, their love of music, and what songs they can’t wait to play in Chicago.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet The CheckPoints.
Patrick Hwu, MD
President and CEO, Moffitt Cancer Center
Instrument: Keyboard
His Work: “In my role as CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center, I’m inspired by our patients, team members, and community all being focused on our mission to help cancer patients and discover better ways to prevent and cure tomorrow’s patients,” Hwu said. “I am most excited about the advances we continue to make in T-cell therapy and tumor immunology. We are starting to see good responses in patients with solid tumors and I’m looking forward to continued progress. We know so much today about the science of tumor biology and immunology that now is the time as a society that we need to put the pedal to the metal to urgently save more lives.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “I love playing with The CheckPoints, especially for the enthusiastic, energetic dancing crowd that often joins us!”
Favorite Song to Perform: “Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin,’ not only because it has a great piano part, but because it represents the many years we worked as immunologists with the belief that our approach would one day help patients, as we all now know today. Also, it’s a song of inspiration for cancer patients, since there is so much research and new treatments coming along every day.”
Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD
AbbVie Foundation Professor of Pathology; Professor of Ben May Department of Cancer Research; Professor of Medicine; Committee on Cancer Biology; Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, University of Chicago
Instrument: Guitar
His Work: “We have been working on gaining a more detailed understanding of the mechanisms of resistance to checkpoint blockade therapy,” Gajewski explained. “Through this translational research approach, we’ve identified new immune regulatory molecules, some of which are targetable with antibodies and others with small molecule inhibitors. In addition, we have worked out some detailed mechanisms of how the gut microbiota regulates antitumor immunity and have built infrastructure for getting microbiome-based interventions into patients.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “A highlight was the first time we played with Buddy Guy himself, during an ASCO/SITC party. I was playing guitar between a Nobel Prize-winning harmonica player and a Grammy Award-winning blues singer!”
Favorite Song to Perform: “Having just seen the new Led Zeppelin movie, I’m reminded how important their music was to my musical formation. I would work for hours learning Jimmy Page guitar solos from vinyl records. We play one of their songs, ‘Rock and Roll,’ and I love playing that solo!”
Rachel Humphrey, MD
President and Founding CEO, Normunity
Instrument: Lead vocals
Her Work: “I’m the CEO of a Boston-based biotech that’s moving a new medicine, NRM-823, into early phase I testing in patients this coming fall,” Humphrey said. “The drug is a T-cell engager, based on science out of Lieping Chen’s lab at Yale. The data we’ve seen thus far in animal models suggests that NRM-823 has the potential to help the lives of patients with a wide variety of cancer types.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “I love singing with The CheckPoints! We’ve been doing it since 2007, and every year it gets better. There’s nothing like making music for a lot of dancing, happy people!”
Favorite Song to Perform: “By the time we play Nirvana’s ‘Teen Spirit,’ the dance floor is usually hopping wildly, and everyone is jumping up and down. Last year, it felt like the floor was bouncing, even on the edges of the room! Also, there’s nothing like The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ at the very end, when everyone has their phone flashlights on, and the people who join us on the stage are wrapped around each other, swaying to the rhythm.”
James P. Allison, PhD, FAACR
Regental Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology; The Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished University Chair for Cancer Research; Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research; Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform; Director of the James P. Allison Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Instrument: Harmonica
His Work: Allison is currently focused on finding new approaches and new targets for immunotherapy. “We’re getting there,” Allison said at AACR IO 2025, “but we know we can do better.” For example, he suggested moving away from drug development strategies that focus on single-agent activity. He pointed to long-term clinical data showing that of the patients treated with ipilimumab plus nivolumab (Opdivo), who were recurrence-free at the three-year mark, 96% lived at least 10 years after treatment. He is also working on studies trying to define a feedback loop between T cells and macrophages within tumors in order to better understand the tumor microenvironment.
Favorite Musical Memory: A long-time fan of Willie Nelson, Allison has had the opportunity to play with him on multiple occasions. The first time came when he was in his 20s and working as a postdoc in San Diego and ended up at the same party as Nelson and his bass player. Allison fell into a conversation with them and took them to a club where they could play music, and they let him sit in on one song. The next time came after winning the Nobel Prize when Mickey Raphael, the harmonica player in Nelson’s band, read an interview where Allison stated his fondness for Nelson and invited him to play with the musical icon. Since then, Allison has shared the stage with Nelson a few other times, including at the Austin City Limits Festival in front of 70,000 people.
Favorite Song to Perform: In addition to his Nelson fandom, Allison’s affinity for The Doors helped make Wolchok a fan of ‘Roadhouse Blues’ (learn more below).
John M. Timmerman, MD
Professor of Medicine, UCLA Lymphoma Program; Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Instrument: Guitar
His Work: “My areas of research include advances being made in the biology and immunotherapy of B cell malignancies,” Timmerman said. “We are making progress understanding the immune factors that govern responses to CAR T cells and bispecific antibodies, and how these might be manipulated to increase cure rates.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “Playing live with The CheckPoints! We love sharing our music with the great crowd at the AACR Annual Meeting. The best part is bringing new songs to our audience, and surprising them, as we will in Chicago this April!”
Favorite Song to Perform: “We always love doing ‘Sweet Home Chicago,’ since it includes every single member of the band, and all the instruments take a solo, so it’s a highlight of the night! And I love when our three singers are harmonizing, like on ‘The Chain’ by Fleetwood Mac and ‘Take It Easy’ from the Eagles, among others.”
Brad Reinfeld, MD, PhD
Incoming Memorial Sloan Kettering Clinical Oncology Fellow
Instrument: Bass
His Work: “I am in the full-time clinical stage of my training,” Reinfeld said. “However, based on my experience taking care of patients on novel weight loss therapies (GLP-1a family), I am excited to see what these medications can potentially do for the prevention of cancer. Additionally, these drugs offer hope that understanding the molecular mechanisms of metabolism can result in profound clinical improvements!”
Favorite Musical Memory: “I saw Stevie Wonder on my first day of high school with my mom at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. My favorite artist at my favorite venue!”
Favorite Song to Perform: “With The CheckPoints, it has to be ‘Sweet Home Chicago!’ How often do you see a Nobel Prize winner, cancer center directors, a biotech CEO, and a medical student all solo on the same song!”
Rob Jankowski, PharmD
Executive Director, Hematology/Oncology, Medical Affairs, Legend Biotech
Instrument: Drums
His Work: “Our research focus is on cellular therapy for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors,” Jankowski explained. “While many of our pipeline assets are autologous CAR T therapies, I am particularly interested in our allogeneic therapies for hematologic malignancies as well as our autologous therapies for solid tumors for which there is tremendous unmet medical need.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “When I shared the stage with Jim Allison, a Nobel laureate, and Buddy Guy, the legendary blues icon. I have never backed such prestigious people like that. Truly an honor!”
Favorite Song to Perform: “Toto’s ‘Rosanna’ is particularly challenging and fun to play on the drums.”
Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, FAACR
Meyer Director, Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center; Professor of Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Instrument: Tuba
His Work: “As a cancer center director, my major efforts are taking care of patients, but I also continue to run my laboratory, which explores new ways to use the immune system to control cancer,” Wolchok explained. “We are looking at new cell therapies, such as CAR T cells for solid tumors, as well as agonist pathways that will cause the immune system to respond more vigorously to cancer.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “I also play classically in a wind ensemble in New York City, and we’ve had the great privilege of performing on stage in Carnegie Hall. Another highlight was my wedding because my wife, who is a music therapist, and I performed together. She has also joined The CheckPoints on occasion and will be playing percussion at this year’s Annual Meeting.”
[Editor’s Note: Get ready to shout, “more cowbell,” because one of the instruments she will be playing is in fact the cowbell, along with the congas, but we all know which of those legendary music producer Bruce Dickinson needs a prescription for.]
Favorite Song to Perform: “I really love U2’s ‘Angel of Harlem,’ because it has a beautiful part for the horn. I also now enjoy ‘Roadhouse Blues,’ because my first time playing with The CheckPoints it was just me, Jim Allison, and a couple of other people, and he wanted to play a Doors’ song. Since the song doesn’t have a part for the tuba, I just said, ‘Tell me the key,’ and started honking away on ‘Roadhouse Blues’ and it has become a real favorite.”
Ferran Prat, PhD, JD
Senior Vice President, Research Administration and Industry Relations, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Instrument: Saxophone
His Work: “I’m not directly conducting research (I’m not smart enough for that),” Prat joked, “but what excites me is making other people’s groundbreaking science possible. My team’s role at MD Anderson is to secure strategic funding, build alliances, and ensure that researchers have the resources they need to make a real impact. To put it in Hollywood terms: The researchers are the rockstars, and my team and I are their agents.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “Without a shadow of a doubt, the feeling of uncertainty of whether the 5th floor of the Marriott Hotel in Boston would crack and break down, as almost a thousand people were pogoing at the rhythm of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ I don’t think the architects of the building had planned for that specific contingency.”
Favorite Song to Perform: “Give me a solid funk groove, and you’ll immediately see a smile on my face. But in terms of songs that I perform with The CheckPoints, ‘25 or 6 to 4’ by Chicago has got to be my favorite. It has amazing horn arrangements, and as a bonus, we get to hear Tom Gajewski killing it on the (very difficult) guitar solo. It’s an honor being next to him as he makes his guitar literally scream.”
Jason J. Luke, MD
Associate Director for Clinical Research; Director, Immunotherapy and Drug Development Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and University of Pittsburgh
Instrument: Trumpet
His Work: “I am very excited about synthetic biology approaches for cancer such as programable RNAs,” Luke said. “These approaches have the potential to expand the range of therapeutic targets available and broaden the therapeutic window we can explore. As an example, we are working on a lipid-nanoparticle delivered mRNA IL12 (STX-001) that appears extremely promising early in clinical development.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “Playing the SITC party the year Jim won the Nobel Prize. The atmosphere of the crowd was amazing and something I have never experienced before. Nobody was there to see me, of course, and I’m just thankful to have participated.”
Favorite Song to Perform: “My favorite CheckPoints tune that we play is ‘The Letter’ from Joe Cocker. Great horn parts and the band really rocks.”
Russell Pachynski, MD
Associate Professor, Director of Genitourinary Oncology Research, Division of Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine
Instrument: Trombone
His Work: “I recently patented a novel immunotherapy that could potentially treat multiple tumor types, and based on this, I founded a company called Pixie Bio,” Pachynski said. “We have a platform approach in solid tumors, with our lead in prostate cancer. It’s a new experience for me, but it’s so great to be able to play awesome music with some leaders in the field who have already done this. I feel fortunate to play music with people who are not only my friends and colleagues, but mentors and inspirational leaders in academia and industry!”
Favorite Musical Memory: “Every CheckPoints show is super exciting but seeing Radiohead in Berlin during Oktoberfest in an open-air amphitheater, then heading to Oktoberfest tents after is hard to beat!”
Favorite Song to Perform: “Chicago’s ‘25 or 6 to 4.’ It has rippin’ horns and crazy guitar, is upbeat, and when we play it in Chicago, the crowd goes wild!”
Lisa Butterfield, PhD
Distinguished Scientist, Discovery Oncology, Merck
Instrument: Vocals
Her Work: “At Merck, I’m focused on solid tumor immuno-oncology in general and the Merck-Moderna collaboration on individualized neoantigen therapies, specifically,” Butterfield explained. “There are enormous opportunities to reduce tumor recurrence rates with RNA/lipid nanoparticles encoding patient-specific antigens—it’s impossible not be excited about what is now technologically possible and in multiple phase II/III trials being tested in early-stage disease.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “Early on it was singing in a madrigal group at a Bach festival in Los Angeles in junior high. We were the ‘echo’ for the Los Angeles Master Chorale for a performance in Russian at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.”
Favorite Song to Perform: “Right now, it’s ‘The Chain’ by Fleetwood Mac. I really enjoy the harmonies.”
Anna M. Crosetti, MD
Intern (Soon to be Resident), Massachusetts General Hospital for Internal Medicine
Instrument: Vocals
Her Work: “I spent many years in the immunotherapy space before becoming a doctor, running research clinical trials and watching the rapid evolution of the field, starting with the checkpoint inhibitors and ending with the engineered cell therapies,” Crosetti explained. “It inspired me to become a doctor and oncologist, and I’m now finding my research identity in the single-cell RNA sequencing space, dissecting the tumor microenvironment and immunologic responses to therapies.”
Favorite Musical Memory: “My first time meeting the band was at a Cancer Research Institute gala. I was invited at the very last minute and scrambled to find a dress for the formal event. I ended the night at 4 a.m., sitting in a hotel suite with all the band members, singing every lyric to ‘American Pie’ by heart.”
Favorite Song to Perform: “I love harmonizing on ‘All About That Bass’ with Rachel and feeding off each other’s energy on stage. We have so much fun with the song.”
