# Michael Goldberg

> Michael Goldberg is the founder and CEO of SURGE Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech pioneering intraoperative immunotherapy. His idea is deceptively simple: when a surgeon removes a solid tumor, don't leave the cavity empty - fill it with an injectable, biodegradable hydrogel that releases immune-activating medicine right where cancer is most likely to return. A trained chemist who earned a PhD at MIT under Robert Langer and did postdoctoral work with Nobel laureate Phillip Sharp, Goldberg became a Harvard Medical School professor before leaving academia to translate his lab's discovery into the clinic. SURGE has raised roughly $58M, cleared an FDA IND, and completed Phase 1 dosing of its lead program ahead of a registrational trial in triple-negative breast cancer.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at SURGE Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** SURGE Therapeutics, Harvard Medical School (former), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (former)
- **Nationality:** Canadian-American
- **Education:** B.Sc. in Biological Chemistry (Summa Cum Laude, Honors), University of Toronto, M.Phil. in BioScience Enterprise, University of Cambridge, Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry (advisor: Robert Langer), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Postdoctoral training (advisor: Phillip Sharp), Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT
- **Known for:** Founded and leads SURGE Therapeutics, defining the new category of intraoperative immunotherapy, Raised approximately $58M in total funding for SURGE (including $26M Series A and $32M Series B), Secured FDA IND clearance for a Phase 1/2a intraoperative immunotherapy study

## Career timeline

- **pre-2020** — Assistant Professor of Cancer Immunology & Virology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and of Microbiology & Immunobiology at Harvard Medical School; his lab developed the injectable biodegradable hydrogel platform
- **2020** — Founded SURGE Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts to translate the intraoperative immunotherapy concept to patients
- **2022** — SURGE emerged publicly and raised $26M Series A financing
- **2023-01** — FDA cleared SURGE's IND application for a Phase 1/2a study of intraoperative immunotherapy in bladder cancer
- **2023-07** — Closed $32M Series B financing
- **2026-02** — SURGE completed Phase 1 dosing of its first-in-category intraoperative immunotherapy and announced preparations for a registrational trial

## Achievements

- Founded and leads SURGE Therapeutics, defining the new category of intraoperative immunotherapy
- Raised approximately $58M in total funding for SURGE (including $26M Series A and $32M Series B)
- Secured FDA IND clearance for a Phase 1/2a intraoperative immunotherapy study
- Completed Phase 1 dosing of lead program SRG-514 ahead of a planned registrational trial
- Recipient of 25+ awards and distinguished research grants
- Published in Cell, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Reviews Cancer, Science, and Science Translational Medicine
- Appointed to Harvard Medical School Leadership Development for Physicians and Scientists

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — SURGE Therapeutics completed Phase 1 dosing of its first-in-category intraoperative immunotherapy and announced it is preparing for a registrational trial of SRG-514 in triple-negative breast cancer, with bladder (STM-416) and prostate (STM-416p) programs advancing toward Phase 2.

## Links

- Website: https://surgetx.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-goldberg-2b84175
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WhrVQqF8Ds

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-goldberg
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-10