LSIPR 50 2016: Robert Langer
Name: Robert Langer
Organisation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Position: Professor
If at first you don’t succeed try, try again.
Albeit clichéd, the saying could well be applied to our next candidate, Robert Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and one of 13 institute professors at the university.
Aside from his scholarly duties, Langer has written more than 1,300 articles and has more than 1,000 issued and pending patents worldwide that have been licensed or sub-licensed to more than 300 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology and medical device companies.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing.
His first patent applications, which concerned polymer systems for controlled release of macromolecules, were rejected multiple times by the US Patent and Trademark Office between 1976 and 1981.
Eventually Langer procured affidavits from the authors of a 1979 paper who said his approach was innovative.
"Folkman was also a big thinker who thought anything was possible."
With patents in hand, Langer applied to the National Institutes of Health for a grant to support developing polymers in brain cancer drugs, but was rejected numerous times.
In 1985, after several rejections, Langer agreed a deal with a smaller company called Nova Pharmaceuticals to license one of his patents.
By the end of 2013 more than 250 companies had licensed or sub-licensed Langer’s various patents. His work has been cited more than 170,000 times.
Last year, he won the £1 million ($1.4 million) Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. He is one of four living people who has received both the US National Medal of Science, in 2006, and the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation, in 2011.
He spoke to LSIPR to explain more about his work.
What does your role entail?
Teaching and research.
What is your biggest achievement to date?
My students. Nearly 300 are professors throughout the world. More than 400 have started companies or worked in companies in the biotech, medical and pharmaceutical industries. I’m also very proud of our discoveries which involved creating the first approaches for controlled delivery of large molecules through biocompatible polymers, the isolation of the first angiogenesis inhibitors, as well as helping to create the field of tissue engineering.
What was the biggest challenge while working towards this?
Overcoming conventional wisdom.
Which individual in the life sciences field has been most influential in your work?
Judah Folkman. He was my postdoctoral mentor. When I worked with him at Children’s Hospital, starting in 1974, I was the only engineer there and I was exposed to all kinds of medical problems which gave me ideas of ways I could use engineering approaches to solve them. Folkman was also a big thinker who thought anything was possible, which was great for a young scientist like me to see. He was a terrific role model.
What do you consider to be the biggest challenge in your field today?
Raising funds for basic research.
What do you hope your next achievement will be?
Adapting our technologies in drug delivery systems for the third world.
Do you have any advice for anyone looking to break into your field?
Learn fundamentals. Work hard. Dream big. Don’t ever give up.
(Image: MikeDotta / Shutterstock.com)
