Emory University Names Pamela J. Bjorkman Inaugural Recipient of Max Cooper Prize in Immunology

Pamela J. Bjorkman, professor in the division of biology and biological engineering at the California Institute of Technology, has been named one of three inaugural recipients of the Max Cooper Prize in Immunology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. According to Emory University, Dr. Bjorkman was honored “for discovering key details about how T cells recognize antigens and eliminate virally infected cells and tumor cells.”

Dr. Bjorkman has been a faculty member with CalTech for the past 35 years, currently serving as the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering and as a Merkin Institute Professor. Throughout her career, she has conducted extensive research on HIV, coronaviruses, protein design, antibody therapeutics, and structural immunology. Her lab’s present focus is on immune recognition of viral pathogens. They have recently researched the SARS-CoV-2 virus to develop improved therapeutics and vaccines.

Dr. Bjorkman holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.