Robert S. Langer
Encyclopedia
Robert S. Langer is an American engineer
and the David H. Koch Institute Professor
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. 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
.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. He was awarded the 2012 Priestley Medal
.
Langer is widely regarded for his contributions to medicine
and the emerging fields of biotechnology. He is considered a pioneer of many new technologies, including 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. 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
.
Langer is a prolific inventor and holds more than 760 granted or pending patents He has also authored more than 1,100 scientific papers and has participated in the founding of multiple technology companies. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science
, the 10th Annual Heinz Award
in the category of Technology, the Economy and Employment, 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. 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 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
.
Robert Langer and his wife, Laura, a fellow MIT graduate, have three children.
Langer has honorary degrees from a number of universities from around the world:
Harvard University, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Yale University, the ETH (Switzerland), the Technion (Israel), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Willamette University, the University of Liverpool (England), the University of Nottingham (England), Albany Medical College, Pennsylvania State University, Northwestern University, Uppsala University (Sweden) and the University of California – San Francisco Medal. He received the prestigious Dan David Prize
in 2005.
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and the David H. Koch Institute Professor
Institute Professor
Institute Professor is the highest title that can be awarded to a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States...
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. He was formerly the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and maintains activity in the department of chemical engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
and the department of biological engineering at MIT. He is also a faculty member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Founded in 1970, the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, or HST, is one of the oldest and largest biomedical engineering and physician-scientist training programs in the United States and the longest-standing functional collaboration between Harvard University and the...
and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. He is a widely recognized and cited researcher in biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, especially in the fields of drug delivery
Drug delivery
Drug delivery is the method or process of administering a pharmaceutical compound to achieve a therapeutic effect in humans or animals. Drug delivery technologies modify drug release profile, absorption, distribution and elimination for the benefit of improving product efficacy and safety, as well...
systems and tissue engineering
Tissue engineering
Tissue engineering is the use of a combination of cells, engineering and materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physio-chemical factors to improve or replace biological functions...
.Langer's research laboratory at MIT is the largest biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...
lab in the world, maintaining about $10 million in annual grants and over 100 researchers. He was awarded the 2012 Priestley Medal
Priestley Medal
The Priestley Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society and is awarded for distinguished service in the field of chemistry. Established in 1922, the award is named after Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen who immigrated to the United States of America in 1794...
.
Langer is widely regarded for his contributions to medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and the emerging fields of biotechnology. He is considered a pioneer of many new technologies, including 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. 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
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...
tissue
Biological tissue
Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...
.
Langer is a prolific inventor and holds more than 760 granted or pending patents He has also authored more than 1,100 scientific papers and has participated in the founding of multiple technology companies. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
, the 10th Annual Heinz Award
Heinz Award
The Heinz Award is an award currently given annually to ten honorees by the Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions in the five areas of: Arts and Humanities, the Environment, the Human Condition, Public Policy, and Technology, the Economy...
in the category of Technology, the Economy and Employment, the Charles Stark Draper Prize
Charles Stark Draper Prize
The National Academy of Engineering annually awards the Charles Stark Draper Prize, which is given for the advancement of engineering and the education of the public about engineering. It is one of three prizes that constitute the "Nobel Prizes of Engineering" - the others being the Academy's Russ...
, the Lemelson-MIT Prize
Lemelson-MIT Prize
The Lemelson Foundation awards several prizes yearly to inventors in United States. The largest is the Lemelson-MIT Prize which was endowed in 1994 by Jerome H. Lemelson, and is administered through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
, the Albany Medical Center Prize
Albany Medical Center Prize
The is the United States' highest value prize in medicine and biomedical research. Among prizes for medicine, the Albany Medical Center Prize is second only to the $1.4 million Nobel Prize in Medicine and the $1 million Shaw Price in life science and medicine....
in Medicine and Biomedical Research and the Millennium Technology Prize
Millennium Technology Prize
The Millennium Technology Prize is the largest technology prize in the world. It is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership. The prize is presented by the President of Finland...
in 2008. Langer is also the youngest person in history (at 43) to be elected to all three American science academies: the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
and the Institute of Medicine
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
.
Langer received his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
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
Judah Folkman
Moses Judah Folkman was an American medical scientist best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its existence...
at the Children's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Boston is a 396-licensed bed children's hospital in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts.At 300 Longwood Avenue, Children's is adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical School, and to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute...
and at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
.
Robert Langer and his wife, Laura, a fellow MIT graduate, have three children.
Langer has honorary degrees from a number of universities from around the world:
Harvard University, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Yale University, the ETH (Switzerland), the Technion (Israel), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Willamette University, the University of Liverpool (England), the University of Nottingham (England), Albany Medical College, Pennsylvania State University, Northwestern University, Uppsala University (Sweden) and the University of California – San Francisco Medal. He received the prestigious Dan David Prize
Dan David Prize
The Dan David Prize annually awards 3 prizes of $1 million each awarded by the Dan David Foundation and Tel Aviv University to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the fields of science, technology, culture or social welfare. There are three prize categories - past, present and...
in 2005.
Recognition
- In 2008 he was awarded FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
's Millennium Technology PrizeMillennium Technology PrizeThe Millennium Technology Prize is the largest technology prize in the world. It is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership. The prize is presented by the President of Finland...
for developing innovative biomaterialBiomaterialA biomaterial is any matter, surface, or construct that interacts with biological systems. The development of biomaterials, as a science, is about fifty years old. The study of biomaterials is called biomaterials science. It has experienced steady and strong growth over its history, with many...
s for controlled drug release. - In 2011 he was awarded The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
's Innovation award in the category of bioscience for his proven successes in drug-delivery and tissue engineering.
External links
- Langer Lab: Professor Robert Langer
- http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090304/pdf/458022a.pdf
- Dan David Prize Laureate 2005
- Langer Lab Web Page
- BBC News
- Controlled Release Technology Prof. Langer's 5-day short course offered in July.