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Timothy A. Springer

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Timothy "Tim" A. Springer (born February 23, 1948) is an immunologist and the Latham Family Professor at Harvard Medical School.[5] He is also a professor at the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and of the Division of Medical Sciences,[5] and a Senior Investigator at the Research Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine of the Boston Children's Hospital.[6] Springer is best known for discovering the first integrins, LFA-1, and intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs),[7] and for elucidating how these cell adhesion molecules function in the immune system. In recent years, Springer's research interest has expanded to malaria, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling, and von Willebrand factor.[8][9]

Timothy Alan Springer[3]
Born (1948-02-23) February 23, 1948 (age 76)[4]
Fort Benning, Georgia[4]
EducationHarvard University (PhD)
University of California, Berkeley (BA)[1]
Known forDiscovery of LFA-1 and other integrins
AwardsRobert Koch Prize
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
Canada Gairdner International Award
Crafoord Prize
Scientific career
FieldsImmunology
Structural biology
InstitutionsHarvard University
Boston Children's Hospital
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
University of Cambridge
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology[1]
ThesisDetergent soluble products of HLA (1976)
Doctoral advisorJack Strominger[2]

Early life and education

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Springer was born in 1948 in Fort Benning, Georgia.[4] His father was a physician.[10] Springer attended the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in biochemistry and graduating with a BA in 1971.[1] He went on to pursue a PhD under Jack Strominger at Harvard University, completing it in 1976.[2]

Career

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After obtaining his PhD, Springer took a postdoctoral position under César Milstein at the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.[1][11][12]

A year later, he returned to the United States and became an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Springer was promoted to associate professor in 1983 and was appointed Latham Family Professor in 1989.[1]

Outside of Harvard, Springer was the Chief of the Laboratory of Membrane Immunochemistry at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute between 1981 and 1988, and a Senior Investigator at the Immune Disease Institute of Boston from 1988 until its 2012 merge into Boston Children's Hospital.[1][13]

Since 2012, Springer has been a Senior Investigator at the Research Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine of the Boston Children's Hospital.[1]

Springer is involved in a number of business ventures. He founded LeukoSite in 1993,[5] which went public in 1997 and was acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals the next year.[14] He co-founded biotechnology companies Scholar Rock in 2012[15] and Morphic Therapeutic in 2015.[16] He was also an early investor in Selecta Biosciences and Editas Medicine.[14]

Springer was a founding investor of the then-startup company Moderna after investing USD$5 million in 2010.[17] He was the company's fourth-largest shareholder and made USD$400 million when the company launched its initial public offering (IPO) in 2018.[18][19]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Forbes estimated Springer's net worth as USD$1 billion after in share price of biotechnology companies surged.[20]

In 2017, Springer co-founded the 501(c)(3) organization Institute for Protein Innovation, which focuses on antibody research,[21] with him providing a $10 million foundational grant.[14]

Research

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Springer began his research career in immunology. He was studying cytotoxic T cells' interaction with antigens, and, since this interaction depends on magnesium, believed a protein in addition to the T-cell receptor is required.[22] He found a monoclonal antibody that binds a new protein prevents cytotoxic T cells interacting with antigens, and named the protein LFA-1.[23] LFA-1 is a heterodimer, meaning it is made of two different protein subunits.

Around the same period, Richard Hynes from the United States and Erkki Ruoslahti from Finland were independently characterizing proteins on the cell surface that helps attach cells to the surrounding extracellular matrix. They discovered fibronectin and a receptor protein to which fibronectin binds. The fibronectin receptor, which Hynes named "integrin", is also a protein heterodimer.[7][24] Springer found that one of the protein subunits of LFA-1 and Mac-1, a protein heterodimer found on macrophages, has a highly similar DNA sequence to one of the subunits of the fibronectin receptor, suggesting the three proteins belong to the same family of proteins.[25]

Springer's group also discovered ICAM-1, the protein to which LFA-1 binds, and that this interaction is essential for cytotoxic T cells to recognize antigens.[26][27] His innovative use of monoclonal antibodies in these discoveries[28] paved the way for the development of therapeutic antibodies, known as selective adhesion molecule inhibitors, to treat autoimmune diseases.

In addition, Springer identified the steps through which white blood cells move out of the circulatory system towards the site of damage or infection.[29]

More recently, research at Springer's group has expanded to malaria vaccine, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling, and how von Willebrand factor starts the process of stopping bleeding.[9]

Personal life

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Springer is a gongshi collector.[30]

Springer is married to Chafen Lu, a former assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and an alumnus of his lab. He has five children, three from his first marriage.[31][32]

Springer founded and has made contributions to the Institute for Protein Innovation, a Boston-based nonprofit biomedical research organization. He also has endowed professorships at Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital, and Berkeley.[33][34]

Honors and awards

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He was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of California, Berkeley.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "CURRICULUM VITAE" (PDF). Immune Disease Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Gura, Trisha (September 28, 2022). "IPI co-founder Timothy Springer wins Lasker Award, highlighting key chapter in biology". Institute for Protein Innovation. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  3. ^ "Timothy Alan Springer, Ph.D." Harvard Medical School. October 2019. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Timothy A. Springer". WorldCat Entities. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Timothy A. Springer, PhD". Harvard Medical School. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "Timothy A. Springer". Boston Children's Hospital. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award". Lasker Foundation. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  8. ^ "Timothy A. Springer". Harvard Medical School. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Springer Lab - Research". Harvard Medical School. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Deane Ungerleider to Be Bride Of Timothy A. Springer in May". The New York Times. March 28, 1976. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  11. ^ Zamora, Gigi (May 24, 2023). "Billionaire Professor Tim Springer Donates $210 Million To Biomedical Research Nonprofit". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  12. ^ Dutchen, Stephanie (September 28, 2022). "Timothy Springer Receives Lasker Award". Harvard Medical School. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  13. ^ Douglas, Craig (October 1, 2012). "Immune Disease Institute merges into Children's Hospital Boston". Boston Business Journal. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c Gormley, Brian. "Biotech Entrepreneur Timothy Springer Has Another Act". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  15. ^ Saltzman, Jonathan (December 19, 2018). "Cambridge biotech Scholar Rock gets $80m in deal with Gilead". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  16. ^ "Timothy Springer, PhD". Morphic Therapeutic. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  17. ^ "Timothy Springer". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  18. ^ Spalding, Rebecca (December 12, 2018). "A Harvard Professor Made $400 Million in Moderna's Biotech IPO". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Winck, Ben (April 24, 2020). "A Harvard medical professor is now a billionaire after his early stake in Moderna soared 17,000%". Business Insider. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  20. ^ Tognini, Giacomo (May 16, 2020). "Exclusive: Meet The Harvard Professor Who Became A Billionaire Thanks To Coronavirus". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  21. ^ "Our history". Institute for Protein Innovation. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  22. ^ Ravindran, Sandeep (2022). "QnAs with Richard O. Hynes, Erkki Ruoslahti, and Timothy A. Springer: Winners of the 2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 119 (40): e2213720119. Bibcode:2022PNAS..11913720R. doi:10.1073/pnas.2213720119. PMC 9546579. PMID 36170249.
  23. ^ Kürzinger, K.; Reynolds, T.; Germain, R. N.; Davignon, D.; Martz, E.; Springer, T. A. (1981). "A novel lymphocyte function-associated antigen (LFA-1): cellular distribution, quantitative expression, and structure". Journal of Immunology. 127 (2): 596–602. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.127.2.596. PMID 6788846. S2CID 42891370.
  24. ^ Munshi, Hidayatullah G. (2022). "Richard Hynes, Erkki Ruoslahti, and Timothy Springer receive Lasker prize for pioneering work on integrins". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 132 (19): e164374. doi:10.1172/JCI164374. PMC 9529252. PMID 36169028.
  25. ^ Kishimoto, Takashi K.; O'Connor, Karen; Lee, Alice; Roberts, Thomas M.; Springer, Timothy A. (1987). "Cloning of the β subunit of the leukocyte adhesion proteins: Homology to an extracellular matrix receptor defines a novel supergene family". Cell. 48 (4): 681–690. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(87)90246-7. PMID 3028646. S2CID 39834662. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  26. ^ Rothlein, R.; Dustin, M. L.; Marlin, S. D.; Springer, T. A. (1986). "A human intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) distinct from LFA-1". Journal of Immunology. 137 (4): 1270–1274. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.137.4.1270. PMID 3525675. S2CID 70723.
  27. ^ Marlin, Steven D.; Springer, Timothy A. (1987). "Purified intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is a ligand for lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1)". Cell. 51 (5): 813–819. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(87)90104-8. PMID 3315233. S2CID 24615925. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  28. ^ Springer, . A. (1990). "Adhesion receptors of the immune system". Nature. 346 (6283): 425–434. Bibcode:1990Natur.346..425S. doi:10.1038/346425a0. PMID 1974032. S2CID 2154164.
  29. ^ Springer, Timothy A. (1994). "Traffic signals for lymphocyte recirculation and leukocyte emigration: The multistep paradigm". Cell. 76 (2): 301–314. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(94)90337-9. PMID 7507411. S2CID 32045369. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  30. ^ Chernick, Karen (January 8, 2021). "Moderna vaccine billionaire Timothy Springer explains his love for Chinese scholar rocks". The Art Newspaper. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  31. ^ Kirsner, Scott (July 29, 2022). "This billionaire has quietly driven Boston's biotech industry for decades". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  32. ^ "Chafen Lu, Ph.D." Harvard Medical School. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  33. ^ Xiarhos, Kristin (June 20, 2013). "Wu Honored with Springer Professorship". Harvard Medical School. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  34. ^ Gigi Zamora (May 24, 2023). "Billionaire Professor Tim Springer Donates $210 Million To Biomedical Research Nonprofit". Forbes.com.
  35. ^ "William B. Coley Award". Cancer Research Institute. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  36. ^ "Timothy A. Springer". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  37. ^ "Timothy Alan Springer". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 15 May 2023. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  38. ^ "The Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis 2004" (Press release). Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. January 29, 2004. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  39. ^ "Timothy A. Springer". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  40. ^ "Elected Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  41. ^ Zambon, Kat (November 25, 2013). "AAAS Council Elects 388 New AAAS Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  42. ^ "AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award Past Recipients". American Association of Immunologists. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  43. ^ "Henry M. Stratton Medal Recipients (Formerly Lecture)". American Society of Hematology. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  44. ^ "The American Society of Hematology Honors Geraldine P. Schechter, MD, and Timothy Springer, PhD, with 2014 Henry M. Stratton Medal" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: American Society of Hematology. July 22, 2014. Archived from the original on December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  45. ^ "Timothy A. Springer". Gairdner Foundation. 20 October 2019. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  46. ^ "Robert Koch Prize 2023 for pioneering work in immunology goes to US and Spanish scientists" (Press release). Robert Koch Foundation. April 17, 2023. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
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