????職務：腫瘤學研究副總裁

????任職公司：基因技術公司

????2006年，艾勒?梅爾曼的兩位同事被診斷出癌癥。當時，梅爾曼在耶魯大學（Yale）擔任系主任，兼任學校癌癥研究中心的科研主任。他說自己當時非常喜歡做學術研究，曾打算一輩子都在學校搞研究。但當初自己改變想法的一刻，到現(xiàn)在都記憶猶新。

????當時，他妻子剛去探望了兩人共同的一位朋友，這位朋友被診斷出患有癌癥?！拔移拮踊丶液髮ξ艺f：‘你們總說自己多聰明，可為什么不能做點什么去幫幫她呢？’”梅爾曼知道，這只是妻子過分單純的想法，但卻讓他很受觸動。

????早在2005年，梅爾曼曾受邀前往生物科技公司基因科技（Genentech）進行演講，還在不久之后就獲得了該公司提供的工作機會。最初，他拒絕了這家公司的邀請。但朋友的遭遇卻改變了他的想法。他意識到，他在學術界的位置無法最快接觸到可行的癌癥藥物。于是，在2007年，他加入了基因技術公司，目前負責公司內(nèi)癌癥與免疫學關系的相關研究。

????到目前為止，他已經(jīng)參與過多個很有前景的項目。其中一個項目涉及一種名為PD-L1的蛋白。這種蛋白是一種抗體，正常情況下可以保護細胞免受人體免疫反應的影響。但部分癌細胞表面也有PD-L1蛋白，導致白血細胞無法檢測到癌細胞。目前，梅爾曼正在進行針對癌癥患者的研究，主要方向是PD-L1與免疫系統(tǒng)之間的相互作用。在梅爾曼的帶領下，短短兩年半時間內(nèi)，PD-L1療法便已經(jīng)進入二期和三期臨床試驗。“當時人們都跟我說我不可能成功——要想應用于臨床至少要七年時間?！?/p>

????梅爾曼稱，從搞學術向企業(yè)的轉變，聽起來很矛盾，但它是一種很好的改變?！斑@就像打了一針腎上腺素，之前你一直以為自己并不需要這東西。現(xiàn)在我的咒語是‘別廢話，趕緊去做實驗。’”

????Title: Vice President, Research Oncology

????Company: Genentech

????In 2006, two of Ira Mellman's colleagues were diagnosed with cancer. Mellman was at Yale -- he was the chair of his department, and the scientific director of the school's cancer center. At the time, he loved academia, and could have stayed there forever, he says. But he remembers the moment the switch flipped.

????His wife came home after visiting one of their mutual friends who had been diagnosed with cancer. "My wife was saying, 'you guys say you're so smart, why can't you do anything to help her?'" That was an oversimplification, Mellman knew, but it shook him.

????Back in 2005, Mellman had been asked to speak at biotechnology company Genentech, and was offered a job there shortly after. Initially, he dismissed the offer. But his friends' diagnoses made him reconsider. In academia, he realized, Mellman wasn't in the best position to fast-track potential cancer drugs. He joined Genentech in 2007, and now leads the company's research related to the relationship between cancer and immunology.

????Already, he's worked on some promising projects. One involves a protein called PD-L1, which is an antibody that normally protects cells from the body's immune response. But some cancer cells have PD-L1 on their surface so they can sneak by white blood cells undetected. Mellman is now researching treatments for cancer patients that target this interaction between PD-L1 and the immune system. Under Mellman's watch, PD-L1-based treatments have gotten to Phase II and Phase III clinical trials in only two-and-a-half years. "I was told this would never happen -- that it would take seven years at least to get to patients."

????The switch from academia to the corporate world can feel jarring, but it's good, Mellman says. "It's like, getting a shot of adrenaline that you never even knew you needed. Now my mantra is, 'stop talking about it and just do the damn experiment.'"