Robert S. Langer Explained

Robert Samuel Langer, Jr.
Birth Date:August 29, 1948
Birth Place:Albany, New York, United States
Fields:Chemical Engineering
Biotechnology
Pharmaceuticals
Business
Workplaces:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alma Mater:Cornell University (BSc)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ScD)
Doctoral Advisor:Clark K. Colton
Academic Advisors:Judah Folkman
Doctoral Students:W. Mark Saltzman, Erin Lavik, Steven R. Little, Elazer R. Edelman, David J. Mooney, Samir Mitragotri, Mark Prausnitz, Ali Khademhosseini
Notable Students:Ronald A. Siegel, Kristi Anseth, David Edwards (engineer), Jennifer Elisseeff, Omid Cameron Farokhzad, Linda Griffith, Guadalupe Hayes-Mota, Jeffrey Karp, Cato Laurencin, Christine E. Schmidt, Robert J. Linhardt, Antonios Mikos, Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, David Berry, Isaac Berzin, Kathryn Uhrich, Joseph Kost, Akhilesh K. Gaharwar, Molly Stevens, Princess Imoukhuede, Guillermo Ameer, Canan Dağdeviren, Laura Niklason, María José Alonso, Jennifer Elisseeff, Kaitlyn Sadtler, Shiva Ayyadurai
Known For:Controlled drug delivery and tissue engineering
Other Names:Bob Langer

Robert Samuel Langer Jr. FREng[1] (born August 29, 1948) is an American biotechnologist, businessman, chemical engineer, chemist, and inventor. He is one of the nine Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2]

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 Program in Health Sciences and Technology and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

Langer holds over 1,400 granted or pending patents. He is one of the world's most highly cited researchers and his h-index is now (according to Google Scholar, 2023-09-16) 323 with currently over 427,000 citations.[3] He is a widely recognized and cited researcher in biotechnology, especially in the fields of drug delivery systems and tissue engineering.[4] [5]

He is the most cited engineer in history[6] and one of the 10 most cited individuals in any field,[7] having authored over 1,500 scientific papers. Langer is also a prolific businessman, having been behind the participation in the founding of over 40 biotechnology companies including the well-known American pharmaceutical company, Moderna.

Langer's research laboratory at MIT is the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world; maintaining over $10 million in annual grants and over 100 researchers.[8] He has been awarded numerous leading prizes in recognition of his work.

Background and personal life

Langer was born August 29, 1948, in Albany, New York.[9]

He is an alumnus of The Milne School and received his bachelor's degree from Cornell University in chemical engineering.[10] He earned his Sc.D. in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974.[11] His dissertation was entitled "Enzymatic regeneration of ATP" and completed under the direction of Clark K. Colton.[12] From 1974–1977 he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Children's Hospital Boston and at Harvard Medical School under Judah Folkman.[13] [14]

Contributions to medicine and biotechnology

Langer is widely regarded for his contributions to medicine and biotechnology.[15] 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.[16] [17] [18]

Langer worked with Judah Folkman at Boston Children's Hospital to isolate the first angiogenesis inhibitor, a macromolecule to block the spread of blood vessels in tumors.[15] [19] Macromolecules tend to be broken down by digestion and blocked by body tissues if they are injected or inhaled, so finding a delivery system for them is difficult. Langer's idea was to encapsulate the angiogenesis inhibitor in a noninflammatory synthetic polymer system that could be implanted in the tumor and control the release of the inhibitor. He eventually invented polymer systems that would work. This discovery is considered to lay the foundation for much of today's drug delivery technology.[15] [20]

Langer also worked with Henry Brem of the Johns Hopkins University Medical School on a drug-delivery system for the treatment of brain cancer, to deliver chemotherapy directly to a tumor site. The wafer implants that he and his teams have designed have become increasingly more sophisticated, and can now deliver multiple drugs, and respond to stimuli.[21] In 2019, he and his team developed and patented a technique whereby microneedle tattoo patches could be used to label people with invisible ink to store medical information subcutaneously. This was presented as a boon to "developing nations" where lack of infrastructure means an absence of medical records.[22] [23] The technology uses a "quantum dot dye that is delivered, along with a vaccine, by a microneedle patch."[22]

Langer is regarded as the founder of tissue engineering in regenerative medicine.[24] He and the researchers in his lab have made advances in tissue engineering, such as the creation of engineered blood vessels and vascularized engineered muscle tissue.[25] [26] Bioengineered synthetic polymers provide a scaffolding on which new skin, muscle, bone, and entire organs can be grown. With such a substrate in place, victims of serious accidents or birth defects could more easily grow missing tissue.[27] Such polymers can be biocompatible and biodegradable.[28]

Langer is involved in several projects related to diabetes.[29] Alongside Daniel G. Anderson, he has contributed bioengineering work to a project involving teams from MIT, Harvard University and other institutions, to produce an implantable device to treat type 1 diabetes by shielding insulin-producing beta cells from immune system attacks.[30] [31] He is also part of a team at MIT that have developed a drug capsule that could be used to deliver oral doses of insulin to people with type 1 diabetes.[32] [33]

Awards and honors

Langer is 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 National Academy of Medicine. He was also elected as a charter member of National Academy of Inventors.[34] He was elected as an International Fellow[1] of the Royal Academy of Engineering[1] in 2010.

Langer has received more than 220 major awards. He is one of three living individuals to have received both the U.S. National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

He has received numerous other awards, including the 10th Annual Heinz Award in the category of Technology, the Economy and Employment (2003),[78] In 2013 he was awarded the IRI Medal alongside long-time friend George M. Whitesides for outstanding accomplishments in technological innovation that have contributed broadly to the development of industry and the benefit of society.[79] [80] He also received the Rusnano prize that year.[81]

Langer has honorary degrees from 42 universities from around the world including Harvard, Yale, and Columbia University.[82]

Business ventures

Langer has been involved in the founding of many companies,[83] more than twenty in partnership with the venture capital firm Polaris Partners.[84] Success of these companies and Langer's contribution has been detailed by Harvard Business Review:[85]

Langer is a member of the Advisory Board of Patient Innovation, a nonprofit, international, multilingual, free venue for patients and caregivers of any disease to share their innovations.[93] He is also a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company, Xconomy.[94]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: List of Fellows. October 28, 2014. June 8, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows. dead.
  2. News: Hannah . Seligson . Hatching Ideas, and Companies, by the Dozens at M.I.T. . A chemical engineer by training, Dr. Langer has helped start 25 companies and has 811 patents, issued or pending, to his name. ... . . November 24, 2012 . November 26, 2012 .
  3. Web site: Robert Langer . 2023-09-16 . scholar.google.com.
  4. Web site: 1040 Highly Cited Researchers (h>100) according to their Google Scholar Citations public profiles . May 25, 2016.
  5. News: Shukman. David. February 3, 2015. Drug-delivery pioneer wins £1m engineering prize. BBC News Science & Environment. February 3, 2015.
  6. The art of entrepreneurship . Science. 346. 6213. 1146. 10.1126/science.346.6213.1146. 25430772. 2014. Gura. T.. 2014Sci...346.1146G. free.
  7. Web site: Robert Langer . AD Scientific Index 2024.
  8. News: O'Neill. Kathryn M.. Colleagues honor Langer for 30 years of innovation. February 6, 2014. MIT News. July 20, 2006.
  9. Web site: Robert S. Langer life story . 2024-07-25 . www.kavliprize.org.
  10. Web site: Robert S. Langer life story . 2024-07-25 . www.kavliprize.org.
  11. Web site: Professor Robert S. Langer – Langer Lab . 2024-07-25 . en-US.
  12. Web site: Enzymatic regeneration of ATP .
  13. Web site: Robert S. Langer, Sc.D. . Academy of Achievement.
  14. Web site: Professor Robert S. Langer – Langer Lab . 2024-07-25 . en-US.
  15. Pearson. Helen. Profile: Being Bob Langer. Nature. March 4, 2009. 458. 7234. 22–24. 10.1038/458022a. 19262647. free.
  16. 7638603 . 1995 . Mitragotri . S . Blankschtein . D . Langer . R . Ultrasound-mediated transdermal protein delivery . 269 . 5225 . 850–3 . Science . 10.1126/science.7638603. 1995Sci...269..850M . 26069484 .
  17. 10700240 . 2000 . Kost . J . Mitragotri . S . Gabbay . RA . Pishko . M . Langer . R . Transdermal monitoring of glucose and other analytes using ultrasound . 6 . 3 . 347–50 . 10.1038/73213 . Nature Medicine. 31949252 .
  18. Langer. Robert. Folkman, Judah . Polymers for the sustained release of proteins and other macromolecules. Nature. October 1976. 263. 5580. 797–800. 10.1038/263797a0. 995197. 1976Natur.263..797L. 4210402.
  19. Cooke, Robert; Koop, C Everett (2001). Dr. Folkman's War: Angiogenesis and the Struggle to Defeat Cancer. New York: Random House. .
  20. National Academy of Science report Beyond Discovery: Polymer and People 1999
  21. Web site: Robert S. Langer. Science History Institute. March 20, 2018. June 2016.
  22. News: Trafton . Anne . Storing medical information below the skin's surface . MIT News . December 18, 2019.
  23. News: Jaklenec . Ana . McHugh . Kevin J. . Langer . Robert S. . Microneedle tattoo patches and use thereof . US20190015650A1 . US Patent and Trademark Office.
  24. News: Schilling. David Russell. Langer Profile. Engineering Synthetic Skin. February 6, 2014. Industry Tap into News. February 15, 2013.
  25. 10205057 . 1999 . Niklason . LE . Gao . J . Abbott . WM . Hirschi . KK . Houser . S . Marini . R . Langer . R . Functional arteries grown in vitro . 284 . 5413 . 489–93 . Science . 10.1126/science.284.5413.489. 1999Sci...284..489N .
  26. 15965465 . 2005 . Levenberg . S . Rouwkema . J . MacDonald . M . Garfein . ES . Kohane . DS . Darland . DC . Marini . R . Van Blitterswijk . CA . Mulligan . RC. 8 . Engineering vascularized skeletal muscle tissue . 23 . 7 . 879–84 . 10.1038/nbt1109 . Nature Biotechnology. 28136064 .
  27. Vacanti. Joseph P. Langer, Robert . Tissue engineering: the design and fabrication of living replacement devices for surgical reconstruction and transplantation. The Lancet. July 1999. 354. S32–S34. February 6, 2014. 10.1016/s0140-6736(99)90247-7. 10437854. 33614316.
  28. Freed. Lisa E.. Vunjak-Novakovic, Gordana . Biron, Robert J. . Eagles, Dana B. . Lesnoy, Daniel C. . Barlow, Sandra K. . Langer, Robert . Biodegradable Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering. Bio/Technology. July 1994. 12. 7. 689–693. 10.1038/nbt0794-689. 7764913. 22968473.
  29. Web site: Engineering Drug Delivery and Tissue Growth. Schaffer. Amanda. MIT Technology Review. en. March 21, 2019.
  30. Web site: Potential diabetes treatment advances. January 25, 2016. Harvard Gazette. en-US. March 21, 2019.
  31. Anderson. Daniel G.. Langer. Robert. Melton. Douglas A.. Weir. Gordon C.. Greiner. Dale L.. Oberholzer. Jose. Hollister-Lock. Jennifer. Bochenek. Matthew A.. McGarrigle. James J.. January 25, 2016. Long-term glycemic control using polymer-encapsulated human stem cell–derived beta cells in immune-competent mice. Nature Medicine. en. 22. 3. 306–311. 10.1038/nm.4030. 26808346. 1546-170X. 4825868.
  32. Web site: New pill can deliver insulin. MIT News. February 7, 2019 . March 21, 2019.
  33. Web site: Researchers develop a drug capsule that could be used to deliver oral doses of insulin. February 9, 2019. TechGenYZ. en-US. March 21, 2019.
  34. News: Lowry. Judy. National Academy of Inventors congratulates NAI Fellows Robert Langer and Leroy Hood, and NAI Member James Wynne on receiving U.S. National Medals. February 6, 2014. USF Research News. January 8, 2013.
  35. News: R.S. Langer to receive 1996 Gairdner Award. February 5, 2014. MIT News. January 24, 1996.
  36. Web site: Half Million Dollar Lemelson-MIT Prize Winner Announced. https://web.archive.org/web/20030306233457/http://web.mit.edu/invent/n-pressreleases/n-press-98LMP.html. dead. March 6, 2003. Lemelson-MIT. April 15, 1998. February 5, 2014.
  37. Web site: Past Winners of the Othmer Gold Medal. Science History Institute. March 20, 2018. May 31, 2016.
  38. Robert S. Langer Receives 2002 Charles Stark Draper Prize from National Academy of Engineering. Journal of Investigative Medicine. 2002. 50. 3. 159–160. 10.2310/6650.2002.33415. 219540335.
  39. Web site: Robert S. Langer, Sc.D. Biography and Interview . www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  40. News: MIT's Langer wins two prestigious prizes. February 5, 2014. MIT News. December 2, 2003. February 22, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140222160102/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/langerprizes.html. dead.
  41. Web site: Laureates 2005: Robert Langer. Dan David Prize. February 6, 2014.
  42. Web site: McGarry. Greg. MIT Researcher and Albany Native Who Pioneered New Methods for Drug Delivery Named Recipient of America's Top Prize in Medicine. Albany Medical Center. April 29, 2005. February 5, 2014.
  43. https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/results.jsp;jsessionid=67C644F2D0C43F8BFDEBD1D575315249?d-6908034-o=2&d-6908034-s=3&d-6908034-p=15 National Medal of Science 2006
  44. News: Max Planck Research Award. June 10, 2014. May 2, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150502052034/https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/1087551.html. dead.
  45. News: PRINCE OF ASTURIAS AWARD FOR TECHNICAL & SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 2008. June 10, 2014.
  46. News: Lau. Thomas. 2008 Millennium Technology Prize Awarded to Professor Robert Langer for Intelligent Drug Delivery. February 6, 2014. European Science Foundation. June 11, 2008. February 21, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140221202809/http://www.esf.org/ext-ceo-news-singleview/article/2008-millennium-technology-prize-awarded-to-professor-robert-langer-for-intelligent-drug-delivery-4.html. dead.
  47. News: And the winners were…. February 6, 2014. The Economist. December 3, 2011.
  48. News: 2011 recipients. June 10, 2014.
  49. Web site: Past Perkin Medalists. SCI America. February 21, 2018.
  50. Web site: Biopolymer innovator Robert Langer receives 2012 Perkin Medal. SCI. November 8, 2012. December 10, 2014.
  51. Web site: SCI Perkin Medal. Science History Institute. March 24, 2018. May 31, 2016.
  52. Editor, ÖGV. (2015). Wilhelm Exner Medal. Austrian Trade Association. ÖGV. Austria.
  53. Robert Langer Named Priestley Medalist . 2011 . 89 . 24 . 7 . Chemical & Engineering News. 10.1021/cen-v089n024.p007 . Ritter . Steve .
  54. News: Landergan. Katherine. M.I.T. professor to be honored by President Obama. February 6, 2014. MIT. January 4, 2013.
  55. News: Two MIT professors win prestigious Wolf Prize Michael Artin and Robert Langer honored for groundbreaking work in mathematics and chemistry.. February 5, 2014. MIT News. January 4, 2013.
  56. Web site: Biotechnology Heritage Award. Science History Institute. February 21, 2018. May 31, 2016.
  57. Web site: Laureates: 2014. Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
  58. News: Kaufman. Melanie Miller. Robert Langer wins 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. February 6, 2014. MIT News.
  59. Web site: MIT biomedical engineer Robert Langer wins $500,000 Kyoto Prize. The Boston Globe.
  60. Web site: QEPrize Winner 2015 – Robert Langer. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/ti46YSsPf0E . 2021-12-21 . live. February 3, 2015. Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. February 3, 2015 .
  61. Web site: Entrepreneurship at Cornell. August 20, 2015.
  62. Web site: The Scheele Symposium 2015. Läkemedelsakademin. November 18, 2016. November 28, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151128192804/https://www.lakemedelsakademin.se/produkt/the-scheele-symposium-2015/?lang=en. dead.
  63. Web site: Kazemi Prize 2015 Will Be Awarded to Professor Robert S. Langer – Royan Institute. Administrator. www.royaninstitute.org. January 5, 2018.
  64. Web site: Robert S. Langer. ASME. June 6, 2017.
  65. Web site: Robert Langer (USA). May 11, 2021. www.epo.org. en.
  66. Web site: The 2016 Franklin Institute Awards Laureates MIT Department of Biological Engineering. be.mit.edu. en. January 5, 2018.
  67. Web site: Kabiller Prize & Award.
  68. Huggett. Brady. Paisner. Kathryn. December 8, 2017. Top 20 translational researchers of 2016. Nature Biotechnology. En. 35. 12. 1126. 10.1038/nbt.4028. 29220038. 205285596.
  69. Top 20 translational researchers of 2017 . Nature Biotechnology . 2018 . 36 . 9 . 798 . 10.1038/nbt.4237 . 30188525 . Huggett . Brady . Paisner . Kathryn . free .
  70. Web site: School of Engineering third quarter 2018 awards. MIT News. October 19, 2018 . March 21, 2019.
  71. Web site: 2019 Honorees. May 19, 2019. The Hope Funds for Cancer Research. en-US. July 19, 2019.
  72. Web site: Welcome. en-US. October 23, 2019.
  73. Web site: Robert Langer, 2019 Dreyfus Foundation. en-US. July 19, 2019.
  74. Web site: Maurice-Marie JANOT Award – APGI. September 21, 2020. www.apgi.org/. en-US.
  75. https://www.frontiersofknowledgeawards-fbbva.es/ BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards 2021
  76. Web site: I vincitori dei Premi Balzan 2022 . September 12, 2022 .
  77. Web site: Home . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240612164453/https://www.kavliprize.org/?et_cid=5243269 . 2024-06-12 . 2024-06-12 . www.kavliprize.org.
  78. Web site: Robert Langer. The Heinz Awards. February 6, 2014.
  79. News: Wang. Linda. Industrial Research Institute Medal Awarded To Robert S. Langer And George M. Whitesides. February 5, 2014. Chemical & Engineering News. May 28, 2013. February 21, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140221130740/http://www.iri75.org/2013/05/industrial-research-institute-medal-awarded-to-robert-s-langer-and-george-m-whitesides/. dead.
  80. News: IRI to recognize George Whitesides, Robert Langer with top award. February 5, 2014. R&D Magazine. April 17, 2013.
  81. News: Langer receives 2013 Rusnano prize. June 17, 2014. July 23, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140723085601/http://www.rusnanoprize.ru/en/laureate/12/. dead.
  82. Web site: Langer Lab: Professor Robert Langer. MIT. February 6, 2014.
  83. News: Huang. Gregory T.. The Bob Langer and Polaris Family Tree: From Acusphere to Momenta to Visterra. February 6, 2014. Xconomy. April 19, 2011.
  84. Mcguire. Terry. Terry McGuire. July 1, 2019. The Many Shades Of VC/Repeat Entrepreneur Relationships. Life Science Leader. Pennsylvania, United States. VertMarkets.
  85. News: Prokesch. Steven T.. The Edison of Medicine. March 27, 2017. Harvard Business Review. March–April 2017.
  86. News: Farrell. Michael B.. MIT's Robert Langer has another startup. February 6, 2014. The Boston Globe. December 10, 2013.
  87. News: Malloy. Shawn.. Robert S. Langer, Co-Founder of Moderna, Joins Lindus Health's Advisory Board. January 25, 2023. PR Newswire. January 25, 2023.
  88. News: Jones. Vanessa E.. Call him the frizz fighter. February 6, 2014. The Boston Globe. April 2, 2009.
  89. Web site: Shire picks up Pervasis in potential $200M deal. June 10, 2014.
  90. News: Semprus BioSciences Acquired by Teleflex for Up To $80M in Cash, Milestones. June 10, 2014. Wall Street Journal. June 26, 2012. Gormley. Brian. July 14, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714144319/http://pevc.dowjones.com/Article?an=DJFVW00020120625e86pqn2nq&ReturnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fpevc.dowjones.com%2fArticle%3fan%3dDJFVW00020120625e86pqn2nq. dead.
  91. Web site: SQZ Biotech – Board of Directors. March 8, 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140309203021/http://sqzbiotech.com/about/who-we-are/. March 9, 2014.
  92. Web site: Johnson & Johnson Completes Acquisition of TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. June 10, 2014. May 5, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110505014929/http://www.investor.jnj.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=159266. dead.
  93. Web site: Who we are | Patient Innovation. March 26, 2014.
  94. News: About Our Mission, Team, and Editorial Ethics. Xconomy. January 2, 2018. en-US.

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