George Coukos (born December 23, 1961) is a physician-scientist in tumor immunology, professor and director of the Ludwig Cancer Research Lausanne Branch and director of the Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV of the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

and the

Lausanne University Hospital The Lausanne University Hospital (, CHUV), in Lausanne, is one of the five Teaching hospital, university hospitals in Switzerland. The Lausanne University Hospital is linked to the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne, ...

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland. He is known for his work on the mechanisms by which tumors suppress anti-cancer immune responses, and the role of the tumor vasculature in that suppression. In addition to his work in ovarian cancer, the combinatorial immune therapies proposed by Professor Coukos have been successfully tested and approved for lung, liver and kidney cancers.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Greece, George Coukos obtained his MD in 1986 at the

University of Modena The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (), located in Modena and Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, is one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1175, with a population of 20,000 students. The medieval university disappeared b ...

, Italy, and his PhD in 1991 at the University of Patras, Greece. He completed training in

Obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

and

Gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

at the University of Modena in 1991. He then undertook a post-doctorate fellowship in cell biology at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

(1991–1994), where he also completed residency training in obstetrics and gynecology (1994–1997) and fellowship training in

Gynecologic Oncology ''Gynecologic Oncology'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of gynecologic oncology. The journal covers investigations relating to the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of female cancers, as well as research from ...

(1997–2000).

Career

In 2000, he became assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He became an associate professor in 2006 and a full professor in 2010. At the University of Pennsylvania, George Coukos founded (2007) and directed the Ovarian Cancer Research Center, and served as associate director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. In 2012, Coukos was recruited by the University of Lausanne to head up the Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, of the Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland. He was appointed director of the Lausanne branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in the same year.

Major accomplishments

* Discovery of a spontaneous anti-tumor response in ovarian cancer, previously thought to be present only in a few tumor types, such as kidney cancer or

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

* First to propose the notion that tumor endothelial barrier actively controls the localization of

T cells T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) are an important part of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor (TCR) on their ce ...

in tumors, sparking major international efforts towards the development of combinations of anti-

angiogenesis Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature mainly by processes of sprouting and ...

drugs with immune checkpoints in numerous solid tumors * Discovery of mechanisms of immune recognition, including neoantigens, and development of rational T-cell therapy based on pursuit of neoantigens * Discovery of the pro-angiogenic role of T regulatory cells and tumor monocytes * Development of immunotherapies such as an autologous

dendritic cell A dendritic cell (DC) is an antigen-presenting cell (also known as an ''accessory cell'') of the mammalian immune system. A DC's main function is to process antigen material and present it on the cell surface to the T cells of the immune system ...

vaccine and adoptive T-cell therapy with vaccine-primed autologous T-cells

Awards and honors

* American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Foundation's Scholar (2000) *Bristol-Myers Immunology-Oncology Young Investigator Grant, Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (2001) * Translational Science Award, Sidney Kimmel Foundation (2002) * Margaret Greenfield Award for Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research, Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (2005) * Judah Folkman Award, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (2006) *Sir William Osler Award for Excellence in Patient-Oriented Research, University of Pennsylvania (2006) * Mimi Yurkow Courage Award, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, Southern New Jersey Chapter(2007) * Teal Magnolias Award, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (2008) * Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (2008 and 2012) * Angela Carlino Award, Sandy Foundation (2009) * Rosalind Franklin Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Award (2010) * National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Transformative Award (2010) * Claudia Cohen Research Foundation Prize for Outstanding Gynecologic (2012) *Advanced grant, European Research Council (2013) * Stewart J. Rahr Foundation Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award (2018) * Helga Salvesen Award for Best Translational Research, European Society of Gynecological Oncology (2019) * European Society of Medical Oncology Award for Translational Research (2021) * Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024) * American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy Fellow (2023) * US National Academy of Medicine (2024)

References

External links

George Coukos academic profile at University of Lausanne

George Coukos profile at Ludwig Cancer Research
* George Coukos publications indexed b
Google Scholar
*

* Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) * Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research {{DEFAULTSORT:Coukos, George 1961 births Living people University of Modena and Reggio Emilia alumni University of Patras alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Obstetricians Gynaecologists Academic staff of the University of Lausanne Cancer researchers Immunologists University of Pennsylvania faculty Members of the National Academy of Medicine