Dr. John Klement obtained his BS degree from Yale University with a major in Biochemistry and research training in immunology. He obtained his MD and Ph.D from the Medical College of Georgia MD-Ph.D program and is a resident in Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Klement has made significant contribution to cancer immunology and is the first person to identify OPN as an immune checkpoint. OPN is a secreted protein that is known to be involved in cancer and other human diseases. The elevated OPN production has been linked to poor prognosis in human cancer, especially colorectal and pancreatic cancer cancer. John discovered for the first time that OPN functions as an immune checkpoint and negatively regulates T cell activation to promote tumor immune evasion. He further determined that tumor cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are the three major sources of OPN in the tumor microenvironment. Based on these findings, four OPN neutralization monoclonal antibodies have been developed. These four OPN monoclonal antibodies have potent efficacy in blocking OPN function in the suppression of T cell activation ex vivo. His published studies in preclinical immune competent tumor-bearing mice indicate that these OPN monoclonal antibodies are effective in suppression of tumor growth in vivo. The lead clone 100D3 has been humanized. In collaboration with Dr. Priscilla Redd, they have determined that OPN blockade immunotherapy is effective in suppression of human colon cancer liver metastases patient-derived xenograft (PDX) in humanized mice. Chemedimmune is actively pursuing research and development to translate the humanized OPN blockade antibody (h100D3) to human colorectal and pancreatic cancer immunotherapy.