Timothy A. Springer

Springer was born in 1948 in Fort Benning, Georgia. His father was a physician.{{cite news |title=Deane Ungerleider to Be Bride Of Timothy A. Springer in May |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/28/archives/jeane-ungerleider-to-be-bride-of-timothy-a-springer-in-may.html |access-date=June 26, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=March 28, 1976 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626135516/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/28/archives/jeane-ungerleider-to-be-bride-of-timothy-a-springer-in-may.html |archive-date=June 26, 2023}} Springer attended the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in biochemistry and graduating with a BA in 1971. He went on to pursue a PhD under Jack Strominger at Harvard University, completing it in 1976.

After obtaining his PhD, Springer took a postdoctoral position under César Milstein at the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.{{cite news |last1=Zamora |first1=Gigi |title=Billionaire Professor Tim Springer Donates $210 Million To Biomedical Research Nonprofit |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/gigizamora/2023/05/24/billionaire-professor-tim-springer-donates-210-million-to-biomedical-research-nonprofit/?sh=55f889c472c8 |access-date=June 26, 2023 |work=Forbes |date=May 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230626140756/https://www.forbes.com/sites/gigizamora/2023/05/24/billionaire-professor-tim-springer-donates-210-million-to-biomedical-research-nonprofit/?sh=55f889c472c8 |archive-date=June 26, 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Dutchen |first1=Stephanie |title=Timothy Springer Receives Lasker Award |url=https://hms.harvard.edu/news/timothy-springer-receives-lasker-award |access-date=June 26, 2023 |publisher=Harvard Medical School |date=September 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626140821/https://hms.harvard.edu/news/timothy-springer-receives-lasker-award |archive-date=June 26, 2023}}

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.

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.{{cite news |last1=Douglas |first1=Craig |title=Immune Disease Institute merges into Children's Hospital Boston |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2012/10/01/immune-disease-institute-merges-into.html?s=print |access-date=July 8, 2023 |work=Boston Business Journal |date=October 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708130944/https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2012/10/01/immune-disease-institute-merges-into.html?s=print |archive-date=July 8, 2023}}

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

Springer is involved in a number of business ventures. He founded LeukoSite in 1993, which went public in 1997 and was acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals the next year.{{cite news |last1=Gormley |first1=Brian |title=Biotech Entrepreneur Timothy Springer Has Another Act |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/biotech-entrepreneur-timothy-springer-has-another-act-1500463800 |access-date=July 21, 2017 |work=Wall Street Journal |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170721232039/https://www.wsj.com/articles/biotech-entrepreneur-timothy-springer-has-another-act-1500463800 |archive-date=July 21, 2017}}

He co-founded biotechnology companies Scholar Rock in 2012{{cite news |title=Cambridge biotech Scholar Rock gets $80m in deal with Gilead |work=Boston Globe |first1=Jonathan |last1=Saltzman |date=December 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418213526/https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/12/19/cambridge-biotech-scholar-rock-gets-deal-with-gilead/SquADZ6dtR9MHeGanw2mbL/story.html |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/12/19/cambridge-biotech-scholar-rock-gets-deal-with-gilead/SquADZ6dtR9MHeGanw2mbL/story.html |access-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-date=April 18, 2023}} and Morphic Therapeutic in 2015.{{cite web |title=Timothy Springer, PhD |url=https://morphictx.com/leadership/board-of-directors-timothy-springer-phd/ |publisher=Morphic Therapeutic |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |access-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629080639/https://morphictx.com/leadership/board-of-directors-timothy-springer-phd/}} He was also an early investor in Selecta Biosciences and Editas Medicine.

Springer was a founding investor of the then-startup company Moderna after investing USD$5 million in 2010.{{cite web |title=Timothy Springer |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/timothy-springer/?sh=193eb0b52b2d |work=Forbes |access-date=June 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230628144617/https://www.forbes.com/profile/timothy-springer/?sh=ac852812b2d1 |archive-date=June 28, 2023}} He was the company's fourth-largest shareholder and made USD$400 million when the company launched its initial public offering (IPO) in 2018.{{cite news |last1=Spalding |first1=Rebecca |title=A Harvard Professor Made $400 Million in Moderna's Biotech IPO |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-12/a-harvard-professor-made-400-million-in-moderna-s-biotech-ipo |access-date=June 11, 2020 |work=Bloomberg News |date=December 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200611170716/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-12/a-harvard-professor-made-400-million-in-moderna-s-biotech-ipo |archive-date=June 11, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Winck |first1=Ben |title=A Harvard medical professor is now a billionaire after his early stake in Moderna soared 17,000% |url=https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/moderna-stock-bet-turns-harvard-professor-into-billionaire-amid-virus-2020-4-1029123653 |access-date=June 29, 2023 |work=Business Insider |date=April 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629075359/https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/moderna-stock-bet-turns-harvard-professor-into-billionaire-amid-virus-2020-4-1029123653 |archive-date=June 29, 2023}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Forbes estimated Springer's net worth as USD$1 billion after in share price of biotechnology companies surged.{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Meet The Harvard Professor Who Became A Billionaire Thanks To Coronavirus |date=May 16, 2020 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2020/05/16/exclusive-harvard-professor-who-became-a-billionaire-thanks-to-moderna-talks-about-his-investing/ |last=Tognini |first=Giacomo |work=Forbes |access-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230629082045/https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2020/05/16/exclusive-harvard-professor-who-became-a-billionaire-thanks-to-moderna-talks-about-his-investing/?sh=2d7db7f46b8d}}

In 2017, Springer co-founded the 501(c)(3) organization Institute for Protein Innovation, which focuses on antibody research,{{cite web |title=Our history |url=https://proteininnovation.org/history/ |publisher=Institute for Protein Innovation |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630080133/https://proteininnovation.org/history/ |archive-date=June 30, 2023}} with him providing a $10 million foundational grant.

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.{{cite journal |last1=Ravindran |first1=Sandeep |title=QnAs with Richard O. Hynes, Erkki Ruoslahti, and Timothy A. Springer: Winners of the 2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=2022 |volume=119 |issue=40 |page=e2213720119 |doi-access=free |doi=10.1073/pnas.2213720119 |pmid=36170249 |pmc=9546579 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11913720R }} He found a monoclonal antibody that binds a new protein prevents cytotoxic T cells interacting with antigens, and named the protein LFA-1.{{cite journal |last1=Kürzinger |first1=K. |last2=Reynolds |first2=T. |last3=Germain |first3=R. N. |last4=Davignon |first4=D. |last5=Martz |first5=E. |last6=Springer |first6=T. A. |title=A novel lymphocyte function-associated antigen (LFA-1): cellular distribution, quantitative expression, and structure |journal=Journal of Immunology |date=1981 |volume=127 |pages=596–602 |pmid=6788846 |url=http://www.jimmunol.org/content/127/2/596.long |issue=2 |doi=10.4049/jimmunol.127.2.596 |s2cid=42891370|doi-access=free }} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Munshi |first1=Hidayatullah G. |title=Richard Hynes, Erkki Ruoslahti, and Timothy Springer receive Lasker prize for pioneering work on integrins |journal=Journal of Clinical Investigation |date=2022 |volume=132 |issue=19 |page=e164374 |doi=10.1172/JCI164374 |pmid=36169028 |doi-access=free |pmc=9529252 }} 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.{{cite journal |first1=Takashi K. |last1=Kishimoto |first2=Karen |last2=O'Connor |first3=Alice |last3=Lee |first4=Thomas M. |last4=Roberts |first5=Timothy A. |last5=Springer |title=Cloning of the β subunit of the leukocyte adhesion proteins: Homology to an extracellular matrix receptor defines a novel supergene family |journal=Cell |date=1987 |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=681–690 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(87)90246-7 |pmid=3028646 |s2cid=39834662 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0092867487902467 |access-date=July 6, 2023|url-access=subscription }}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Rothlein |first1=R. |last2=Dustin |first2=M. L. |last3=Marlin |first3=S. D. |last4=Springer |first4=T. A. |title=A human intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) distinct from LFA-1 |journal=Journal of Immunology |date=1986 |volume=137 |pages=1270–1274 |pmid=3525675 |url=http://www.jimmunol.org/content/137/4/1270.long |issue=4 |doi=10.4049/jimmunol.137.4.1270 |s2cid=70723|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Marlin |first1=Steven D. |last2=Springer |first2=Timothy A. |title=Purified intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is a ligand for lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) |journal=Cell |date=1987 |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=813–819 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(87)90104-8 |pmid=3315233 |s2cid=24615925 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0092867487901048 |access-date=July 8, 2023|url-access=subscription }} His innovative use of monoclonal antibodies in these discoveries{{cite journal |last=Springer |first=. A. |title=Adhesion receptors of the immune system |journal=Nature |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/346425a0 |date=1990 |volume=346 |pages=425–434 |doi=10.1038/346425a0 |pmid=1974032 |issue=6283 |bibcode=1990Natur.346..425S |s2cid=2154164|url-access=subscription }} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Springer |first1=Timothy A. |title=Traffic signals for lymphocyte recirculation and leukocyte emigration: The multistep paradigm |journal=Cell |date=1994 |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=301–314 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(94)90337-9 |pmid=7507411 |s2cid=32045369 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0092867494903379 |access-date=July 7, 2023|url-access=subscription }}

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.

Springer is a gongshi collector.{{cite news |last1=Chernick |first1=Karen |title=Moderna vaccine billionaire Timothy Springer explains his love for Chinese scholar rocks |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/01/08/moderna-vaccine-billionaire-timothy-springer-explains-his-love-for-chinese-scholar-rocks |access-date=June 8, 2023 |work=The Art Newspaper |date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608180537/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/01/08/moderna-vaccine-billionaire-timothy-springer-explains-his-love-for-chinese-scholar-rocks |archive-date=June 8, 2023}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Kirsner |first1=Scott |title=This billionaire has quietly driven Boston's biotech industry for decades |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/29/business/this-billionaire-has-quietly-driven-bostons-biotech-industry-decades/ |access-date=June 30, 2023 |work=Boston Globe |date=July 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220729130514/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/29/business/this-billionaire-has-quietly-driven-bostons-biotech-industry-decades/ |archive-date=July 29, 2022}}{{cite web |title=Chafen Lu, Ph.D. |url=https://timothyspringer.org/people/chafen-lu-phd |publisher=Harvard Medical School |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630084841/https://timothyspringer.org/people/chafen-lu-phd |archive-date=June 30, 2023}}

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.{{cite news |first=Kristin |last=Xiarhos |title=Wu Honored with Springer Professorship |date=June 20, 2013 |publisher=Harvard Medical School |url=https://hms.harvard.edu/news/wu-honored-springer-professorship |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630085551/https://hms.harvard.edu/news/wu-honored-springer-professorship |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |access-date=June 30, 2023}}{{cite web|author=Gigi Zamora|website=Forbes.com|title=Billionaire Professor Tim Springer Donates $210 Million To Biomedical Research Nonprofit|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/gigizamora/2023/05/24/billionaire-professor-tim-springer-donates-210-million-to-biomedical-research-nonprofit/?sh=71cbf3272c8e|date=May 24, 2023}}

• American Heart Association Basic Research Prize (1993)
• William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology (1995){{cite web |title=William B. Coley Award |publisher=Cancer Research Institute |url=https://www.cancerresearch.org/william-b-coley-award |access-date=June 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628084856/https://www.cancerresearch.org/william-b-coley-award |archive-date=June 28, 2023}}
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1996){{cite web |title=Timothy A. Springer |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/3001708.html |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=June 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628085001/http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/3001708.html |archive-date=June 28, 2023}}
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2001){{cite web |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/timothy-alan-springer |title=Timothy Alan Springer |date=15 May 2023 |access-date=June 28, 2023 |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628085148/https://www.amacad.org/person/timothy-alan-springer |archive-date=June 28, 2023}}
• Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis (2004){{cite press release |date=January 29, 2004 |title=The Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis 2004 |url=https://www.crafoordprize.se/news/the-crafoord-prize-in-polyarthritis-2004/ |publisher=Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |access-date=July 3, 2023 |archive-date=July 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703131502/https://www.crafoordprize.se/news/the-crafoord-prize-in-polyarthritis-2004/}}
• Guggenheim Fellowship (2004){{cite web |title=Timothy A. Springer |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/timothy-a-springer/ |publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |access-date=July 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703131744/https://www.gf.org/fellows/timothy-a-springer/ |archive-date=July 3, 2023}}
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2013){{cite web |title=Elected Fellows |url=https://www.aaas.org/fellows/listing?page=305 |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |access-date=July 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703133115/https://www.aaas.org/fellows/listing?page=305 |archive-date=July 3, 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Zambon |first1=Kat |title=AAAS Council Elects 388 New AAAS Fellows |url=https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-council-elects-388-new-aaas-fellows |access-date=July 3, 2023 |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |date=November 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703133525/https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-council-elects-388-new-aaas-fellows |archive-date=July 3, 2023}}
• AAI-Life Technologies Meritorious Career Award (now AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award), American Association of Immunologists (2014){{cite web |title=AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award Past Recipients |url=https://www.aai.org/Awards/Career-Awards/AAI-Meritorious-Career-Award/Past-Recipients.aspx |publisher=American Association of Immunologists |access-date=July 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704035635/https://www.aai.org/Awards/Career-Awards/AAI-Meritorious-Career-Award/Past-Recipients.aspx |archive-date=July 4, 2023}}
• Henry M. Stratton Medal, American Society of Hematology (2014){{cite web |title=Henry M. Stratton Medal Recipients (Formerly Lecture) |url=https://www.hematology.org/awards/honorific/henry-stratton-medal-recipients |publisher=American Society of Hematology |access-date=July 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704035855/https://www.hematology.org/awards/honorific/henry-stratton-medal-recipients |archive-date=July 4, 2023}}{{cite press release |title=The American Society of Hematology Honors Geraldine P. Schechter, MD, and Timothy Springer, PhD, with 2014 Henry M. Stratton Medal |date=July 22, 2014 |publisher=American Society of Hematology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228022830/https://www.hematology.org/Newsroom/Press-Releases/2014/3022.aspx |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |access-date=December 28, 2018 |url=https://www.hematology.org/Newsroom/Press-Releases/2014/3022.aspx |location=Washington, D.C.}}
• Canada Gairdner International Award (2019){{cite web |title=Timothy A. Springer |date=20 October 2019 |url=https://www.gairdner.org/winner/timothy-a-springer |publisher=Gairdner Foundation |access-date=July 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704040319/https://www.gairdner.org/winner/timothy-a-springer |archive-date=July 4, 2023}}
• Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2022)
• Robert Koch Prize (2023){{cite press release |title=Robert Koch Prize 2023 for pioneering work in immunology goes to US and Spanish scientists |date=April 17, 2023 |publisher=Robert Koch Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704040704/https://www.robert-koch-stiftung.de/en/media/press-releases |archive-date=July 4, 2023 |access-date=July 4, 2023 |url=https://www.robert-koch-stiftung.de/en/media/press-releases}}

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

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Category:Harvard University faculty

Category:1948 births

Category:Living people

Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences

Category:Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research

Category:American billionaires

Category:American immunologists

Category:Harvard Medical School alumni

Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:Moderna people

Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge

Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine