Sjoerd H. van der Burg, Ph.D. is a professor in the immunotherapy of cancer at the department of medical oncology of the Leiden University Medical Center and a senior investigator of the Oncode Institute. He leads the experimental cancer immunology and therapy group consisting of about 30 scientists and technicians. The aim of his program is to implement immunotherapy as treatment modality for patients with solid tumors. The program is focused on the exploration of key factors in host-tumor interactions that determine successes and failures in immune control of cancer in order to drive the improvement of immunotherapeutic strategies against solid tumors. The fundamental, translational and clinical studies in his group has led to insights in the role of the tumor immune microenvironment, immune suppression and escape in cancer progression and therapy resistance. Furthermore, it led to the development of a powerful therapeutic vaccine concept and an adoptive cell transfer strategy for the treatment of cancer.