Nonprofit advances to transform biomedical research with novel protein tools and expertise
Very few individuals have the ability and the opportunity to directly impact a large number of people’s lives. Entrepreneurs, innovators, doctors, political leaders and others may have success of that magnitude. Tim Springer, Ph.D., entrepreneur and professor at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, is in that elite club.
Dr. Springer, his wife Chafen Lu, Ph.D., and their children gifted $210 million to the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Institute for Protein Innovation (IPI). This recent philanthropic donation, plus the $40 million Dr. Springer previously gifted IPI, establishes an endowment that increases the nonprofit’s capacity to scale. It will further the organization’s efforts to provide the biomedical research community with synthetic antibodies and deep protein expertise.
The gift’s proceeds will advance an area of medical research that Dr. Springer has devoted most of his career for which he has received numerous honors. Dr. Springer became an entrepreneur when he cofounded IPI in 2017 with his fellow Harvard Medical School Professor Andrew Kruse, using the proceeds of his investment in vaccine maker Moderna. That investment makes this recent gift to IPI possible, establishing research for years to come.
“I founded IPI on the premise that a foundry for protein tools, and most importantly antibodies, would help scientists make discoveries, and possibly new therapeutics, for years to come; my gift will help realize this vision,” says Dr. Springer. “IPI is my legacy project and recognizes the role that monoclonal antibodies have played in my discovery and basic research.”
Dr. Springer has been a long time advocate for greater focus on research antibodies that are used to recognize and attach to biomolecules. This area has been overshadowed by the development of therapeutic antibodies that lead to highly profitable blockbuster drugs. As a result, opportunities are being missed for the discovery of new biology, the understanding of biological mechanisms, and the pinpointing of the molecular origins of human diseases.
With this substantial new funding, three objectives for the advancement of protein science have been moved to the forefront: 1) provide high-quality antibodies and other protein-based tools to the scientific community, 2) advance protein science through investigator-driven research and 3) augment the education of life scientists.
“This gift is unmistakably transformative,” says Ken Fasman, Ph.D., President and CEO of IPI. “Thanks to Tim’s commitment, IPI will be able to take on more challenging problems in protein science that academia and industry cannot or will not. We now have the potential to impact biomedical research at a greater scale and duration.”
Dr. Springer’s entrepreneurial pursuits via IPI that were furthered by his investor experience in Moderna created a legacy of work that will be appreciated over the decades to come.
