The Institute for Protein Innovation (IPI), a nonprofit research institute dedicated to advancing protein science, today celebrates the extension of its Education and Training Program with the launch of the Springer-Lu Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Backed by a commitment of up to $1.4 million from the Springer-Lu Family Foundation, this new training program will empower the next generation of trailblazers in protein engineering by supporting early-career scientists who have the intent and drive to harness protein science and solve fundamental problems in biomedical research.
“A lot of aspiring protein engineers are being pulled into pharmaceutical and biotech companies, where they have to turn a slew of protein candidates into one impactful drug,” said Kenneth Fasman, president and CEO of IPI. “We wanted to create a place where creative protein engineers can start their careers, in an environment where they can innovate whole new paths toward a new generation of therapies that ultimately impact patients.”
The program will support postdoctoral fellows with up to three years of research funding, lab space and mentorship at IPI, and access to the Institute’s advanced platforms and expertise in yeast display, deep sequencing, protein expression and purification, antibody validation, confocal microscopy, automation and AI/ML antibody and protein engineering.
In addition to working closely with the IPI scientific team, each fellow will also partner with an external tenured or tenure-track faculty sponsor. This unique co-mentor model is designed to accelerate professional development, foster integration into the broader scientific community and ensure cross-institutional collaboration, which lies at the heart of IPI’s mission.
The fellowship is open to candidates who have recently finished or are nearing completion of their PhD, MD or medical residency. Applications will be accepted until Friday, January 20, 2026, with final candidates selected through a competitive process and named in March.
Fellows are expected to serve in the position for two years, with the potential opportunity to continue for a third year. The program aims to provide a secure pathway for emerging talent to tackle high-risk projects, strengthen the ties between IPI and the surrounding biomedical communities, and emphasize the vital role of high-throughput, in vitro technologies in developing reliable recombinant antibodies.
The fellowship is inspired by IPI co-founder Tim Springer’s formative time as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Nobel Laureate César Milstein, who shared the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the invention of monoclonal antibody technology, a breakthrough that revolutionized biomedical research and therapeutics. Monoclonal antibodies became central to Springer’s work as a Harvard Medical School professor and biotechnology entrepreneur, grounding his award-winning research on integrins — a pivotal family of proteins embedded in the membranes of nearly every cell in the human body.
“Antibodies are extremely valuable tools in biomedicine and I’ve been using them my entire career,” said Springer. “We want to make this resource better known, have young investigators discover how powerful these tools can be and employ them in formative periods of their research careers.”
Recent technological advancements, including artificial intelligence models and protein structure prediction tools — recognized with a Nobel Prize in 2024 — are unlocking new frontiers in antibody research, with much still to be explored. Ideally, IPI’s Springer Lu fellows will help lead that exploration.
“In 2030, I would like people to look back and say, Springer-Lu fellows have made a dramatic difference in biomedical research,” said Fasman, “because they have brought similarly outstanding protein technologies into the world.”
Applications to the Springer-Lu Postdoctoral fellowship will be accepted until January 20, 2026. We encourage motivated candidates to apply early and join a community committed to bold, protein-driven discovery. Visit our landing page to apply.
About IPI
The Institute for Protein Innovation is pioneering a new approach to scientific discovery and collaboration. As a nonprofit research institute, we provide the biomedical research community with synthetic antibodies and deep protein expertise, empowering scientists to explore fundamental biological processes and pinpoint new targets for therapeutic development. Our mission is to advance protein science to accelerate research and improve human health. For more information, visit proteininnovation.org or follow us on social media, @ipiproteins.
Media Contact
Trisha Gura
617-651-8329
trisha.gura@proteininnovation.org