Robert Schreiber, PhD

Robert Schreiber, PhD, is the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine; founding director of the Bursky Center for Human Immunology & Immunotherapy Programs; and co-leader of the Tumor Immunology Program of Washington University’s Siteman Cancer Center. He is an extramural member researcher of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, an associate director of the Scientific Advisory Board to the Cancer Research Institute, and a member of the Board of Scientific Advisors to the National Cancer Institute.

He is a co-founder of two biotech companies: Jounce Therapeutics, Inc., and Neon Therapeutics, Inc. He is also a member of scientific advisory boards for A2 Biotherapeutics, BioLegend, Constellation Pharmaceuticals, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Sensei Biotherapeutics, and Osteosarcoma Institute. Dr. Schreiber’s research focuses on two areas: the cell biology of interferon-gamma and its receptor and elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying natural and therapeutically induced immune responses to developing and established cancers. He described the process of cancer immunoediting, pioneered the use of genomics approaches to define the neoantigenic targets in cancers, defined underlying mechanisms involved in immune checkpoint cancer therapy, and was among the first to use an immunogenomics approach to develop individualized cancer vaccine therapies.

Dr. Schreiber is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed and invited publications and has received many honors; among the more recent are the 2014 Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology and the 2017 Balzan Prize, shared with James P. Allison, PhD.

He completed his postdoctoral training in immunology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and in 1976 was appointed to the Scripps faculty, where he rose to the rank of tenured associate member. In 1985 he was recruited to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, as a professor of pathology and immunology as well as of molecular microbiology. In 1990 he became the alumni endowed professor of pathology and immunology.

Dr. Schreiber holds a BA in chemistry and a PhD in biochemistry and immunology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

• 2015: Co-Editor-In-Chief, Cancer Immunology Research
• 2014: AACR–Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology; Director, Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs at Washington University
• 2013: Member, National Academy of Sciences
• 2010: Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2008: Washington University School of Medicine Distinguished Investigator Award; Washington University School of Medicine Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award
• 2007: Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Cancer Research Award
• 2001: William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology, Cancer Research Institute
• 1998: Marie T Bonazinga Award for Excellence in Leukocyte Biology Research
• 1996: Seymour & Vivian Milstein Award for Excellence in Interferon and Cytokine Research