Robert Samuel Langer Jr. FREng (born August 29, 1948) is an American biotechnologist, businessman,

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

, chemist, and inventor. He is one of the nine Institute Professors at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. He was formerly the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and

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

and maintains activity in the Department of

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

and the Department of

Biological Engineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...

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 The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with success indicators such as winning t ...

is now (according to

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of Academic publishing, scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in Beta release, beta in November 2004, th ...

, 2023-09-16) 330 with currently over 445,000 citations. He is a widely recognized and cited researcher in

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

, especially in the fields of

drug delivery Drug delivery involves various methods and technologies designed to transport pharmaceutical compounds to their target sites helping therapeutic effect. It involves principles related to drug preparation, route of administration, site-specif ...

systems and

tissue engineering Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biolo ...

. He is the most cited engineer in history and one of the 10 most cited individuals in any field, having authored over 1,600 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 Moderna, Inc. ( ) is an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that focuses on RNA therapeutics, primarily mRNA vaccines. These vaccines use a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to carry inst ...

. Langer's research laboratory at MIT is the largest

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

lab in the world; maintaining over $10 million in annual grants and over 100 researchers. 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 Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. He is an alumnus of The Milne School and received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in chemical engineering. He earned his

Sc.D. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

in chemical engineering from

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 at the Children's Hospital Boston and at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

under

Judah Folkman Moses Judah Folkman (February 24, 1933 – January 14, 2008) was an American biologist and pediatric surgeon best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its ...

Contributions to medicine and biotechnology

Langer is widely regarded for his contributions to medicine and

. 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. Langer worked with

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...

to isolate the first

angiogenesis Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature mainly by processes of sprouting and ...

inhibitor, a

macromolecule A macromolecule is a "molecule of high relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises the multiple repetition of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass." Polymers are physi ...

to block the spread of blood vessels in tumors. 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 A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

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. 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. 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. The technology uses a " quantum dot dye that is delivered, along with a

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

, by a microneedle patch." Langer is regarded as the founder of tissue engineering in

regenerative medicine Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by st ...

. He and the researchers in his lab have made advances in tissue engineering, such as the creation of engineered

blood vessels Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the tissues of a body. They also take waste an ...

and vascularized engineered

muscle Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

tissue. 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. Such polymers can be biocompatible and biodegradable. Langer is involved in several projects related to

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

. 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 Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

-producing

beta cell Beta cells (β-cells) are specialized endocrine cells located within the pancreatic islets of Langerhans responsible for the production and release of insulin and amylin. Constituting ~50–70% of cells in human islets, beta cells play a vi ...

s from immune system attacks. He is also part of a team at MIT that have developed a drug capsule that could be used to deliver oral doses of

to people with type 1 diabetes.

Awards and honors

At 43 years old, Langer was the youngest person in history to be elected to all three American science academies: the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

and the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

. He was also elected as a charter member of

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 201 ...

. He was elected as an International

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

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. * 1996: Gairdner Foundation International Award * 1998: Lemelson-MIT Prize for invention and innovation * 2002: Othmer Gold Medal * 2002: Dickson Prize in Science * 2002:

Charles Stark Draper Prize The U.S. National Academy of Engineering annually awards the 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 Enginee ...

(considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for engineers). * 2003: Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

* 2003:

Harvey Prize The Harvey Prize is an annual Israeli award for breakthroughs in science and technology, as well as contributions to peace in the Middle East granted by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Technion in Haifa. The prize has become a ...

in Science & Technology and Human Health. * 2005: Dan David Prize * 2005:

Albany Medical Center Prize The Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research is the United States' second highest value prize in medicine and biomedical research, awarded by the Albany Medical Center. Among prizes for medicine worldwide, the Albany Medical ...

in Medicine and Biomedical Research. * 2006: United States

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 science, behavior ...

from President George W. Bush. * 2008: Max Planck Research Award 2008 * 2008:

Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...

for Scientific Research * 2008: Awarded

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

's Millennium Technology Prize for developing innovative

biomaterial A biomaterial is a substance that has been Biological engineering, engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose – either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a Medical diag ...

s for controlled drug release. * 2010: Elected an International

of the

. * 2011:

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

's Innovation award in the category of bioscience for his proven successes in drug-delivery and

. * 2011: Warren Alpert Foundation Prize * 2012: Perkin Medal, recognized as the highest honor given for outstanding work in applied chemistry in the United States. * 2012:

Wilhelm Exner Medal The Wilhelm Exner Medal has been awarded by the Austrian Industry Association, (ÖGV), for excellence in research and science since 1921. The medal is dedicated to Wilhelm Exner (1840–1931), former president of the Association, who initialize ...

. * 2012: Priestley Medal, the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society (ACS), for distinguished service in the field of chemistry. * 2013: United States

National Medal of Technology and Innovation The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the president of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...

from President Obama. * 2013: Wolf Prize in Chemistry for conceiving and implementing advances in polymer chemistry that provide both controlled drug-release systems and new biomaterials. * 2013: IEEE Medal for Innovations in Healthcare Technology * 2014: The

Biotechnology Industry Organization The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is the largest advocacy association in the world representing the biotechnology industry. It was founded in 1993 as the Biotechnology Industry Organization from a merger of the Industrial Biotechno ...

(BIO) and the

Chemical Heritage Foundation The Science History Institute is an institution that preserves and promotes understanding of the history of science. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it includes a library, museum, archive, research center and conference center. It was ...

selected Robert Langer as the winner of the 2014 Biotechnology Heritage Award for significant contribution to the growth of biotechnology. * 2014: Awarded the $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his work. * 2014:

Kyoto Prize The is Japan's highest private award for lifetime achievement in the arts and sciences. It is given not only to those that are top representatives of their own respective fields, but to "those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, ...

* 2015:

Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * ...

* 2015: Named

's 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year. * 2015: Scheele Award * 2015: Kazemi Prize (Royan Institute) * 2015: Hoover Medal *2016: European Inventor Award * 2016: Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science * 2017: Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine * 2017: Named 1# Translational Researcher in the World by ''Nature Biotechnology''. * 2018: Named 1# Translational Researcher in the World by ''Nature Biotechnology''. * 2018: Leadership Award for Historic Scientific Advancement,

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

* 2018: Inducted into Advanced Materials Hall of Fame * 2019: Hope Funds for Cancer Award of Excellence in Basic Sciences * 2019: National Library of Medicine (Friends) Distinguished Medical Science Award * 2019: Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences * 2020: Maurice Marie–Janot Award * 2020: Medalha da Ciência, Highest Distinction for Scientists, Government of Portugal (Portugal's Highest Honor) * 2021: Elected Foreign Associate, Chinese Academy of Engineering * 2021: Biomaterials Global Impact Award * 2021: Falch Lecture Prize, University of Bergen, Norway * 2021: John P. Merrill Award * 2021: BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award * 2022:

Balzan Prize The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the b ...

* 2023: Cornell Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award * 2023: Genome Valley Excellence Award (India) * 2023: Hamilton Medal (Queen's University Belfast) * 2023/2024: Paul Janssen Award * 2024
Kavli Prize in Nanoscience
* 2025: Ellis Island Medal of Honor * 2025: Lipid Science Prize (Camurus Lipid Research Foundation - Sweden) * 2025: Double Helix Prize with

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...

and

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...

He has received numerous other awards, including the 10th Annual

Heinz Award The Heinz Awards are individual achievement honors given annually by the Heinz Foundations, Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards each year recognize outstanding individuals for their innovative contributions in three areas: the Arts, the Eco ...

in the category of Technology, the Economy and Employment (2003), 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. He also received the

Rusnano Rusnano Group () is a Russian state-established and funded company. The Rusnano Group's mission is to create competitive nanotechnology-based industry in Russia. Rusnano invests directly and through indirect funds into all major knowledge-based ...

prize that year. Langer has honorary degrees from 44 universities from around the world including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Oxford Universities.

Business ventures

Langer has been involved in the founding of many companies, more than twenty in partnership with the venture capital firm Polaris Partners. Success of these companies and Langer's contribution has been detailed by Harvard Business Review: * Acusphere * AIR (acquired by Alkermes and subsequently acquired by Acorda) * Arsenal Medical * Arsia (acquired by Eagle Pharmaceuticals) * BIND Therapeutics (acquired by Pfizer) * Tarveda Therapeutics (formerly Blend Therapeutics) * Sontra Medical (acquired by Echo Therapeutics) * Enzytech (acquired by Alkermes) * Tissium (formerly Gecko Biomedical) * InVivo Therapeutics * Kala * Landsdowne Labs * Lindus Health * Living Proof (acquired by Unilever) * Lyra Therapeutics * Lyndra Therapeutics * Microchips Biotech (acquired by Dare) *

* Momenta (acquired by

Johnson and Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and Medical device, medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publi ...

) * Olivo Labs (acquired by Shisheido) * Pervasis (acquired by Shire Pharmaceuticals) * Pulmatrix * PureTech * Selecta Biosciences (merged to form Cartesian Therapeutics) * Semprus Biosciences (acquired by Teleflex) * Seventh Sense * SQZ Biotech * Soufflé Therapeutics Inc. * Taris (acquired by

) * Transform (acquired by

) * T2Biosystems * Frequency Therapeutics (merged to form Korro Bio) * Sigilon Therapeutics (acquired by

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was a Union Army officer, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and recruited a company of men to ...

) * Seer Bio 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. He is also a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company,

Xconomy Xconomy was a media company providing news on business, life sciences, and technology{{cite web , title=Company Overview of Xconomy, Inc. , url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=36215051 , publisher=Bloomberg ...

References

External links

Langer Lab: Professor Robert Langer
*
Article on BBC NewsThe Bob Langer and Polaris Company Tree From Acusphere to Momenta to Visterra

Robert Langer: Exchanges at the frontier – ABC Radio National podcast
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Langer, Robert S. 1948 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American chemists 20th-century American inventors 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American chemists 21st-century American inventors 21st-century American Jews American chemical engineers American media executives American technology chief executives American technology company founders American biotechnologists Businesspeople from New York (state) American pharmaceutical industry businesspeople Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Draper Prize winners Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellows of the Biomedical Engineering Society Harvard University faculty Jewish American scientists Jewish chemists Jewish engineers Kyoto laureates in Advanced Technology Lemelson–MIT Prize MIT School of Engineering alumni MIT School of Engineering faculty Members of the National Academy of Medicine Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Moderna people National Medal of Science laureates Scientists from Albany, New York Winners of The Economist innovation awards Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates