Pamela J. Bjorkman

Pamela J. Bjorkman

Affiliation at the time of the award:

Caltech, USA

Award citation:

“For pioneering innovative strategies to overcome viral defenses through novel antibody-focused approaches”.

Prize share:

None

Pamela J. Bjorkman (1956, USA) is the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering; Merkin Institute Professor, at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Bjorkman grew up in Portland, Oregon, USA. She received a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Oregon and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University. As a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow with Don Wiley at Harvard, she solved the first 3-D structure of a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule, which functions to present pieces of potentially dangerous pathogens to T lymphocytes during immune recognition of infected cells. Dr. Bjorkman continued her postdoctoral training at Stanford with Mark Davis, where she worked on T cell receptors, and then joined the faculty at Caltech in 1989.
Bjorkman has spent decades studying how the immune system recognizes invading pathogens, aiming to develop therapeutics that enhance its response in novel ways. Her research focuses on the structure and function of molecules involved in cell surface recognition, particularly those mediating immune system recognition. She is investigating immune responses to a diverse range of viral pathogens to develop improved therapeutics and vaccines.
Pamela Björkman has made major contributions to four different areas during her career. First was her solution of the Class I Major Histocompatibility Complex Antigen (MHC) structure, a major accomplishment that transformed understanding of T-cell recognition of antigen. Next, in characterizing evolution of MHC-related proteins, she shed light on how MHC antigens could be targeted by systems other than T-cell recognition. Third, seeking how to generate a clinically effective immune response to HIV, she showed the vital importance of immunization strategies focused on conserved epitopes in order to defeat viral variants. Finally, since the advent of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, she took the lead on mapping structures engaged by antibodies on the coronavirus spike protein and relating them to the rapid evolution of this virus. Then, she developed a novel strategy, based on antibody structural constraints, to design immunogens to selectively elicit wide-spectrum antibodies against this family of coronaviruses. Taken together, hers represents a career of exceptionally sustained creativity and impact, fusing basic research and medically applicable science at the highest level.

Björkman’s recent work has been boldly innovative in designing more potent approaches to overcome viral defenses. Her studies on HIV illuminated the importance of antibodies that recognize invariant parts of the viral surface proteins. However, viral surface proteins often fold so that the immune system primarily detects parts that are easy for the virus to mutate without reducing its fitness. To overcome this, Björkman invented a new way to select positively for antibodies that target features conserved between different viral strains by exploiting the obligate dimer property of antibody structures. This innovative work represents a conceptual breakthrough and should potentially be much broader in application. Pamela Björkman’s work provides a glimpse of a new rational design strategy for future vaccines to deal with humanity’s greatest immunization challenges.