Joe Biden Calls Nobel Prize Winning Researcher From MD Anderson

HOUSTON, TX — Former Vice President Joe Biden placed a call to Jim Allison, Ph.D. Monday to congratulate him on winning the the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Allison, who is chair of immunology and executive director of the Immunotherapy Platform at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is the first from the center to win what is considered to be the world's most prestigious medical award.

"I just wanted to congratulate you and thank you for everything you've done. I am so happy for you and you deserve the recognition. You're going to save an awful lot of lives," Biden told Allison, according to a video of the phone call tweeted by Dr. Ron DePinho.

MAKING HISTORY: Nobel Prize Awarded To MD Anderson Immunologist

Allison won the award for discovering a new way to attack cancer by treating the immune system rather than the tumor. Beau Biden, the vice president’s son, died in 2015 of glioblastoma—a brain cancer. He was treated in 2013 at MD Anderson, the center wrote.

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Photo and video via @RonDePinho