Mehmet Toner (born 1958) is a Turkish biomedical engineer. He is currently the Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Surgery at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

(MGH) and Harvard Medical School, with a joint appointment as professor at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). Toner is a co-founder and Associate Director of the Center for Engineering in Medicine (CEM) at MGH and Director of the Biomedical Engineering Research and Education Program at MGH. He is one of the Senior Scientific Staff of the

Shriners Hospital for Children Shriners Children's is a network of non-profit medical facilities across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-center ...

. He is the founding Director of the National Institute of Health's BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems or BioMEMS Resource Center at MGH. Toner has made contributions to the fields of cryobiology and biopreservation and to the wider field of biomedical engineering. He has developed techniques in microtechnology and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

for use in clinical medicine, including the treatment of cancer. He has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academy of Medicine.

Early life and education

Toner was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1958. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering at the Istanbul Technical University in 1983, and his master's degree in mechanical engineering at MIT in 1985. Next Toner studied

medical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

with

Ernest G. Cravalho Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...

at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), completing his Ph.D. in 1989. He completed postdoctoral work under

Martin Yarmush Martin L. Yarmush (born October 8, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American scientist, physician, and engineer known for his work in biotechnology and bioengineering. After spending 4 years as a Principal Research Associate in Chemical Engineer ...

and Ronald G. Tompkins at MGH.

Career

In 1989 Toner joined the faculty of

(MGH) and became an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Harvard Medical School. He became an Associate Professor in 1996, and a Professor in 2002. He is jointly appointed as a Professor of Health Sciences and Technology for the

Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology The Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, or HST, is one of the oldest and largest biomedical engineering and physician-scientist training programs in the United States. It was founded in 1970 and is the longest-standing collab ...

. In 1995 Toner co-founded the Center for Engineering in Medicine (CEM) at MGH. becoming its Associate Director. That year he also founded the Biomedical Engineering Research and Education Program at MGH, becoming its Director. In 2004 he became founding director of the NIH BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS) Resource Center at MGH. In 1999, Toner helped to found the ''

Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering ''Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering'' is an academic journal published by Annual Reviews. In publication since 1999, this journal covers the significant developments in the broad field of biomedical engineering with an annual volume of revi ...

'', serving as associate editor. As of 2021, Toner became co-editor of the ''Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering'', sharing the position with

Martin L. Yarmush Martin L. Yarmush (born October 8, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American scientist, physician, and engineer known for his work in biotechnology and bioengineering. After spending 4 years as a Principal Research Associate in Chemical Engineer ...

Research

Toner's early work focused on understanding cellular injuries during cryopreservation and finding optimum strategies for cell preservation. Toner developed a theory of intra-cellular ice formation while completing his PhD in Medical Engineering at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As part of that work he proposed acetylated trehalose as a novel cryoprotectant. Toner's later work includes bio-sensing, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. He has helped to develop microelectromechanical and microfluidic devices for point-of-care detection of cancer,

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

genetic defects A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...

and

infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

. He has received awards for the development of the CTC-chip, a microchip which can isolate and detect circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Toner worked with scientists at several institutions to develop a fast, reliable test for

SARS-CoV-2 virus Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a p ...

Awards

* 2019, Member, US National Academy of Medicine (NAM) * 2017, Member, US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) * 2016, Fellow, US National Academy of Inventors (NAI) * 2010, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Thoracic Oncology Research Team Award,

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including basic, clinical, and t ...

(AACR) * 2010, Rock Stars of Science, GQ Magazine and Geoffrey Beene Foundation * 2008, Breakthrough Award, '' Popular Mechanics” * 1999, Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) * 1997, John F and Virginia B Taplin Faculty Fellow Award Faculty Fellow Award, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology * 1995, Whitaker Foundation Special Opportunity Award * 1994, Y. C. Fung Faculty Award in Bioengineering,

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

(ASME) (intra-cellular ice formation)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toner, Mehmet Turkish molecular biologists Turkish academics Turkish bioengineers 1958 births Living people Engineers from Istanbul Istanbul Technical University alumni Harvard Medical School faculty MIT School of Engineering alumni Turkish emigrants to the United States Turkish mechanical engineers American academics of Turkish descent Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Members of the National Academy of Medicine