Dr. Michael Birnbaum

Associate Professor

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Biography

Michael Birnbaum is an associate professor of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his bachelor's degree in Chemical and Physical Biology from Harvard University and completed his PhD at Stanford University, where he worked with K. Christopher Garcia studying the molecular mechanisms of T cell receptor recognition, cross-reactivity, and activation. His postdoctoral work in Carla Shatz's group at Stanford was supported by a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship. Birnbaum joined the faculty of the Koch Institute at MIT in 2016. Throughout his tenure, he has received numerous awards including the AACR-TESARO Career Development Award in Immuno-oncology Research, the Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, and the Pew-Stewart Scholarship for Cancer Research. He was also a co-founder of Kelonia Therapeutics and Abata Therapeutics and serves as an advisor for various initiatives. His recent work involves producing CAR T-cells for cancer treatment and deciphering T cell diversity to aid in developing screening tools that recognize different targets.

Research Interests

Experience

Associate Professor

2016-01-01 — Present

Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Cambridge, MA

Teaching and conducting research in the field of Biological Engineering, particularly focusing on immunology and cancer therapy.

Awards

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AACR-TESARO Career Development Award

2016-01-01
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Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering

2017-01-01
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Pew-Stewart Scholarship for Cancer Research

2018-01-01
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National Institutes of Health (NIH) New Innovators Award

2020-10-01