Dr. Randolph Noelle is a cellular and molecular immunologist who was recruited to Dartmouth Medical School, USA in 1984. In 2009, he accepted a joint position at Kings College in the MRC Transplantation at Guys Hospital. Dr. Noelle was awarded the Welcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship Award which will focus on the critical role of Vitamin A (retinoic acid) as an exciting new target for intervention in immune-related diseases. For over 30 years, his laboratory has sought to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate acquired immunity. T cell help acquired immune privilege and serological memory. In 1992, his laboratory discovered CD40L, and contributed extensively to our understanding of T cell help and the development of adaptive immunity. He developed humanized aCD40L mabs that entered numerous Phase II Clinical Trials in autoimmune indications. In 2006, he founded a company, ImmuRx, dedicated to the development of highly agonistic anti-CD40 antibody-based vaccines for the development of protective anti-tumor immunity. More recently, his laboratory has been involved with the discovery of new immunoregulatory molecules, one of which is a new member of the Protein Death Ligand Family (PD-L) (called VISTA) and has potent immunoregulatory function. Recently, a company founded by Dr. Noelle (ImmuNext) has licensed VISTA to JNJ for oncology indications.