Robert S. Langer
| Robert Samuel Langer, Jr. | |
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| Born | August 29, 1948 Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Residence | United States |
| Fields | biomedical engineering |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Alma mater | Cornell University Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Doctoral advisor | Clark K. Colton |
| Other academic advisors | Judah Folkman |
| Notable students | Kristi Anseth, David Edwards (engineer), Linda Griffith, Jeffrey Karp, Ali Khademhosseini, Cato Laurencin, Robert J. Linhardt, David J. Mooney |
| Known for | Controlled drug delivery and tissue engineering |
| Notable awards | Gairdner Foundation International Award (1996), Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2013) |
Robert Samuel Langer, Jr. (born August 29, 1948 in Albany, New York) is an American engineer and the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1] He was formerly the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and maintains activity in the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. He is also a faculty member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. He is a widely recognized and cited researcher in biotechnology, especially in the fields of drug delivery systems and tissue engineering. According to Web of Science he has been cited nearly 90,000 times and has an h-index of 147 as of May 1, 2013. Langer's research laboratory at MIT is the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world, maintaining about $10 million in annual grants and over 100 researchers.[2] Langer is also currently on the board of directors at Advanced Cell Technology.[3]
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Background and personal life[edit]
Langer was born August 29, 1948 in Albany, New York. He is an alumnus of The Milne School and received his bachelor's degree from Cornell University in chemical engineering. He earned his Sc.D. in chemical engineering from MIT in 1974. His dissertation was entitled "Enzymatic regeneration of ATP" and completed under the direction of Clark K. Colton. From 1974–1977 he worked as a postdoctoral fellow for cancer researcher Judah Folkman at the Children's Hospital Boston and at Harvard Medical School. Langer and his wife, Laura, a fellow MIT graduate, have three children.
Contributions to medicine and biotechnology[edit]
Langer is widely regarded for his contributions to medicine and biotechnology.[4] He is considered a pioneer of many new technologies, including controlled release systems and transdermal delivery systems, which allow the administration of drugs or extraction of analytes from the body through the skin without needles or other invasive methods.[5][6][7] He and the researchers in his lab have also made advances in tissue engineering, such as the creation of engineered blood vessels and vascularized engineered muscle tissue.[8][9]
Langer holds more than 800 granted or pending patents.[1][10] He has also authored over 1,200 scientific papers and has participated in the founding of multiple technology companies.
Recognition[edit]
- He received the Dan David Prize in 2005.[11]
- In 2008 he was awarded Finland's Millennium Technology Prize for developing innovative biomaterials for controlled drug release.[12]
- In 2011 he was awarded The Economist's Innovation award in the category of bioscience for his proven successes in drug-delivery and tissue engineering.[13]
- In 2013 he was awarded the Wolf Prize in Chemistry for conceiving and implementing advances in polymer chemistry that provide both controlled drug-release systems and new biomaterials.
He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation[14] the 10th Annual Heinz Award in the category of Technology, the Economy and Employment,[15] the Charles Stark Draper Prize, the Lemelson-MIT Prize, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research and the Millennium Technology Prize in 2008. He was awarded the 2012 Priestley Medal.[16] In 2013 he was awarded the IRI Medal alongside long-time friend George M. Whitesides. Langer is also the youngest person in history (at 43) to be elected to all three American science academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine.
Langer has honorary degrees from 20 universities from around the world: Northwestern University, Harvard University, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Yale University, the ETH, the Technion, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Willamette University, the University of Liverpool, the University of Nottingham, Albany Medical College, Pennsylvania State University, Uppsala University, Bates College, Boston University, Tel Aviv University(Israel), Ben Gurion University (Israel) and the UCSF Medical Center.
Founder of various biotech companies[edit]
- Acusphere
- AIR
- Arsenal
- BIND Biosciences
- Blend Therapeutics
- Enzytech (Acq. by Alkermes)
- InVivo Therapeutics
- Kala
- Living Proof[18]
- Microchips
- Moderna
- Momenta
- Pervasis
- Pulmatrix
- Selecta Biosciences
- Seventh Sense
- Sontra Medical
- Taris
- Transform
- T2
References[edit]
- ^ a b Hannah Seligson (November 24, 2012). "Hatching Ideas, and Companies, by the Dozens at M.I.T.". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-26. "A chemical engineer by training, Dr. Langer has helped start 25 companies and has 811 patents, issued or pending, to his name. ..."
- ^ Colleagues honor Langer for 30 years of innovation, MIT News Office
- ^ http://www.advancedcell.com/news-and-media/press-releases/scientific-luminary-dr-robert-langer-joins-acts-board-of-directors/index.asp
- ^ Nature: Being Bob Langer
- ^ Mitragotri, S; Blankschtein, D; Langer, R (1995). "Ultrasound-mediated transdermal protein delivery". Science 269 (5225): 850–3. doi:10.1126/science.7638603. PMID 7638603.
- ^ Kost, J; Mitragotri, S; Gabbay, RA; Pishko, M; Langer, R (2000). "Transdermal monitoring of glucose and other analytes using ultrasound". Nature Medicine 6 (3): 347–50. doi:10.1038/73213. PMID 10700240.
- ^ LANGER, ROBERT; FOLKMAN, JUDAH (NaN undefined NaN). "Polymers for the sustained release of proteins and other macromolecules". Nature 263 (5580): 797–800. doi:10.1038/263797a0. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
- ^ Niklason, LE; Gao, J; Abbott, WM; Hirschi, KK; Houser, S; Marini, R; Langer, R (1999). "Functional arteries grown in vitro". Science 284 (5413): 489–93. doi:10.1126/science.284.5413.489. PMID 10205057.
- ^ Levenberg, S; Rouwkema, J; MacDonald, M; Garfein, ES; Kohane, DS; Darland, DC; Marini, R; Van Blitterswijk, CA et al. (2005). "Engineering vascularized skeletal muscle tissue". Nature Biotechnology 23 (7): 879–84. doi:10.1038/nbt1109. PMID 15965465.
- ^ Langer Lab: Professor Robert Langer
- ^ http://www.dandavidprize.org/laureates/laureates-2005/66-2005-future-materials-science/103-prof-robert-langer.html
- ^ Millennium Technology Prize: 2008 MILLENNIUM TECHNOLOGY PRIZE AWARDED TO PROFESSOR ROBERT LANGER FOR INTELLIGENT DRUG DELIVERY
- ^ Robert Langer: Economist Innovation Awards - Bioscience winner 2011
- ^ http://www.boston.com/yourcampus/news/mit/2013/01/mit_professor_to_be_honored_by_president_obama.html
- ^ The Heinz Awards, Robert Langer profile
- ^ "Robert Langer Named Priestley Medalist". Chemical & Engineering News 89 (24): 7. 2011.
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/fashion/articles/2009/04/02/call_him_the_frizz_fighter/ Frizz fighter
External links[edit]
- Langer Lab: Professor Robert Langer
- http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090304/pdf/458022a.pdf
- Dan David Prize Laureate 2005
- Robert S. Langer fact sheet at MIT News Office
- BBC News
- The Bob Langer and Polaris Company Tree From Acusphere to Momenta to Visterra
- Controlled Release Technology 5-day short course at MIT with Professor Robert Langer.
- Robert Langer: Exchanges at the frontier - ABC Radio National podcast
| Preceded by Shuji Nakamura |
Millennium Technology Prize winner 2008 (for Innovative biomaterials) |
Succeeded by Michael Grätzel |
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- 1948 births
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
- Living people
- Harvard University faculty
- American chemical engineers
- American educators
- Cornell University alumni
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
- Biotechnology
- Lemelson–MIT Prize
- National Medal of Science laureates
- Members of the Institute of Medicine
- Draper Prize winners
- Wolf Prize in Chemistry
