American immunologist
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]
Early life and education
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
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
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
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
He was a
Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the
University of California, Berkeley .
[10]
References
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
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^
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^
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^ Zamora, Gigi (May 24, 2023).
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^
"Timothy Springer, PhD" . Morphic Therapeutic. Archived from
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^
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^ Winck, Ben (April 24, 2020).
"A Harvard medical professor is now a billionaire after his early stake in Moderna soared 17,000%" .
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"Exclusive: Meet The Harvard Professor Who Became A Billionaire Thanks To Coronavirus" . Forbes . Archived from
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^
"Our history" . Institute for Protein Innovation. Archived from
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^ 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 .
^ 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
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S2CID
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^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^
"Chafen Lu, Ph.D." Harvard Medical School. Archived from
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^ Xiarhos, Kristin (June 20, 2013).
"Wu Honored with Springer Professorship" . Harvard Medical School. Archived from
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^ Gigi Zamora (May 24, 2023).
"Billionaire Professor Tim Springer Donates $210 Million To Biomedical Research Nonprofit" . Forbes.com .
^
"William B. Coley Award" .
Cancer Research Institute . Archived from
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^
"Timothy A. Springer" .
National Academy of Sciences . Archived from
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^
"Timothy Alan Springer" .
American Academy of Arts and Sciences . 15 May 2023. Archived from
the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023 .
^
"The Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis 2004" (Press release).
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences . January 29, 2004. Archived from
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^
"Timothy A. Springer" .
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation . Archived from
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^
"Elected Fellows" .
American Association for the Advancement of Science . Archived from
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^ Zambon, Kat (November 25, 2013).
"AAAS Council Elects 388 New AAAS Fellows" . American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived from
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^
"AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award Past Recipients" .
American Association of Immunologists . Archived from
the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023 .
^
"Henry M. Stratton Medal Recipients (Formerly Lecture)" .
American Society of Hematology . Archived from
the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023 .
^
"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
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^
"Timothy A. Springer" .
Gairdner Foundation . 20 October 2019. Archived from
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^
"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
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International National Academics Other