Robert Langer

Robert S. Langer is the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of only 12 such Institute Professors. The major focus of his research is the study and development of polymers to deliver drugs, particularly genetically engineered proteins, continuously at controlled rates and for prolonged periods of time. He has served as both a member and Chairman of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s SCIENCE Board. Bob has received over 220 major awards including the United States National Medal of Science, the United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the Charles Stark Draper Prize, considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for engineers, the 2008 Millennium Prize, the world’s largest technology prize, and the 2012 Priestley Medal, the highest award of the American Chemical Society. He has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Inventors, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Forbes Magazine and Bio World have named Bob as one of the 25 most important individuals in biotechnology in the world. He was selected by Forbes Magazine as one of the 15 innovators worldwide who will reinvent the future, while Time Magazine and CNN named him as one of the 100 most important people in America and one of the 18 top people in science or medicine in America. Bob has received 34 honorary doctorates, written more than 1,480 articles. He also has over 1,360 issued and pending patents worldwide, which have been licensed or sublicensed to over 400 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology and medical device companies.