For his seminal clinical research contributions that have led to the development of pembrolizumab as the first-in-class approved anti-PD-1 immunotherapy for the treatment of melanoma, for his characterization of BRAF, CTLA-4, and MEK in cancer, and for deciphering the molecular mechanisms responsible for immunotherapeutic resistance, which have since fueled additional efforts to understand the relationship between the immune system and cancer.
Internationally heralded, Dr. Ribas is recognized for his clinical research contributions that led to the development of pembrolizumab as the first-in-class approved anti-PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) immunotherapy for the treatment of melanoma, and the analysis of mechanisms and response and resistance. A world leader in clinical trials, Dr. Ribas has led critically important studies that have significantly impacted cancer treatments. Dr. Ribas was the principal investigator of what is considered the largest Phase I study in oncology, with over 600 patients participating across 12 institutions in the United States, Europe and Australia that ultimately led to the “breakthrough therapy” status in 2014 and FDA approval in 2015. His research has also elucidated the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance and drug response. Together with collaborators, he established a predictive model based on CD8 expression at the invasive margin of tumors that not only explained why some patients respond better to treatment, but also helped determine optimal patient populations for anti-PD-1 treatment.
In addition to his work involving PD-1, Dr. Ribas has also contributed to the understanding of how proteins such as BRAF, CTLA-4, and MEK may all be exploited for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Ribas conducted a phase Ib study to determine the efficacy and safety of drug therapy combinations involving the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib and the MEK1 inhibitor cobimetinib in BRAF-V600 mutated melanoma, with favorable long-term responses at the 5-year mark presenting in approximately 40% of cases. Together these studies have included deciphering the molecular mechanisms that drive select patients to develop resistance to immunotherapies and targeted therapies, and have fueled many additional research efforts dedicated to understanding the relationship between the immune system and cancer.
Selected Awards and Honors
2021 Doctor Honoris Causa from the Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Melanoma Research (SMR)
2020 Elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
2020 ESMO Award for Translational Research
2019 William B. Coley Award in Basic and Tumor Immunology, Cancer Research Institute (CRI)
2019 President, American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2018 AACR-CRI Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology, American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2017 Doctor Honoris Cause from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
2016 AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award, American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2015 Giants of Cancer Care Award, OncLive, Cranbury, NJ
2015 Lila and Murray Gruber Memorial Cancer Research Award and Lectureship, American Academy of Dermatology, Rosemont, Illinois
2015 Elected Member, Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
2013 Outstanding Researcher Award, Society for Melanoma Research, Clifton Park, New York
2009 Elected Member, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Ann Arbor, Michigan
2000 Clinical Research Career Development Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology