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Dr. Robert S. Langer is the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Being one of the eight Institute Professors is the highest honor that can be awarded to a faculty member at MIT. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University and his Sc.D. in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Afterwards, Bob worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Children’s Hospital Boston and at Harvard Medical School. He joined the faculty at MIT in 1978. Since then, Bob has accepted more than 220 major awards and honors, including the U.S. National Medal of Science, the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation (he is one of 3 living individuals to have received both these honors), the Charles Stark Draper Prize (often called the Engineering Nobel Prize), Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, Albany Medical Center Prize, Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Kyoto Prize, Wolf Prize for Chemistry, Millennium Technology Prize, Priestley Medal (highest award of the American Chemical Society), Gairdner Prize, Hoover Medal, Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Sciences, BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine, Balzan Prize, and the Dr. Paul Janssen Award. In 1998, he received the Lemelson-MIT prize, the world’s largest prize for invention for being “one of history’s most prolific inventors in medicine,” and he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006. He is an elected Fellow of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Inventors, and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He has been awarded over 1,000 patents and has received 42 honorary doctorate degrees, including degrees from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Northwestern. In our conversation, he shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (3:50)
When he’s not working, Bob enjoys spending time with his family, taking his kids to sporting events, lifting weights, and going on walks with his wife.
The Scientific Side (4:42)
Much of Bob’s research is at the interface between materials and medicine. His lab has created nanoparticles and drug delivery systems, engineered tissues and organs for things like artificial skin for burn victims, and made organ-on-a-chip technology to help develop and test new drugs that may someday help patients.
A Dose of Motivation (5:36)
“People will tell you that your idea or your invention can’t be done — that it’s not possible. But I think that’s very rarely true. I think if you really believe in yourself and you keep trying, there’s very little that’s impossible.”
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:13)
When Bob was young, his parents gave him chemistry sets and Erector Sets, and he enjoyed playing with those. In college, he decided to pursue engineering, but he didn’t really understand what engineering was at the time. An underlying goal for him was always to find a way to use his background to help people. In the end, he thought medicine could be one way to do that. Bob continued studying chemical engineering in graduate school, and when he finished his PhD, most of the people he knew were getting jobs at oil companies. Not sure what else to do, Bob decided to apply to oil companies as well. He received multiple job offers, but he wasn’t very excited about the prospects of increasing the yield of certain chemicals by small percentages. When he tried to get an academic research position in medicine, no one would hire him. A colleague mentioned to Bob that Dr. Judah Folkman might be willing to work with him, and Bob wrote to him right away. Bob was offered a postdoc job and became the only engineer at Children’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Working with Judah had a major impact on Bob’s life and completely changed his career trajectory. He began working on projects that would lead to isolating the first angiogenesis (blood vessel growth) inhibitors, and this type of drug is now widely used to treat cancer and other diseases. His research with Judah also contributed to developing the first microparticles that could be used to deliver large molecules.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (14:14)
Beyond his struggles to find a job after graduate school, Bob also had difficulty finding a faculty position after his postdoc concluded. His job applications for Assistant Professor positions in chemical engineering departments kept getting rejected. However, Judah introduced him to Dr. Nevin Scrimshaw who worked in the Nutrition Department at MIT at the time. Nevin offered Bob a job, and Bob has remained at MIT ever since. When he first started as a faculty member, his first nine research grants that he submitted were not funded because people didn’t think that his work on delivery systems for certain types of molecules made sense. Despite these setbacks and many others along the way, Bob never gives up. Belief in the importance of his work, having an open mind about what might be possible, support from friends and family, and his own personal stubbornness and perseverance have kept him going through tough times over the years.
A Shining Success! (16:52)
As a professor, it has been really rewarding for Bob to see how well his students have done. Many have become professors all over the world, started successful companies and created jobs for thousands of people, and created new knowledge and new medical treatments that are having big impacts. Thinking about his own science, the angiogenesis inhibitors he worked on have led to multiple drugs and are projected to be prescribed to half a billion people. The drugs are widely used today to treat cancers and to treat blindness caused by problems in the back of the eye such as macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. Also, the nanoparticles and microparticles they developed have been used in many new treatments, as well as the COVID vaccines. Their tissue engineering work developing new skin and blood vessels is helping burn victims and people who have been wounded in the war in Ukraine.
Book Recommendations (23:38)
The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television by Evan Schwartz
Most Treasured Travel (27:01)
Up until the age of about 25, Bob had never been west of Buffalo, NY, or east of Boston, MA, but he has had numerous opportunities to travel all over the world throughout his scientific career since then. Bob recently visited Copenhagen (Denmark), Lund (Sweden), and Madrid (Spain). These are all wonderful cities with outstanding restaurants. Copenhagen has some of the best restaurants in the world, as well as a wonderful theme park called Tivoli Gardens.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (29:48)
Recently, Bob was invited to give a speech for a colleague for his 87th birthday celebration at one of the universities. After his speech, Bob received many kind and heartfelt notes from people who attended, and that meant a lot to him. When Bob turned 70, over 700 people came to visit and celebrate with him. It was very touching to see that as well. The lab is a lot like a giant family in many ways. They have a softball team, and Bob enjoys going to the games to cheer everyone on, and they also have an annual lab beach party on Cape Cod.
Advice For Us All (33:59)
Whatever field you’re in and whatever you’re trying to do, believe that almost anything is possible. Science is a wonderful career, and being a professor provides great opportunities to teach people, educate yourself, and give others hope and knowledge that can make a difference in the world.
Guest Bio
Bob’s work encompasses the areas of nanotechnology, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineering. His postdoctoral work at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he was the only engineer in the hospital, informed his interdisciplinary chemical engineering/design approach to create new biomaterials and understand and develop treatments for various diseases. Most recently, he has focused on work with the Gates Foundation to create better vaccines and nutrition. He has served as a Science Envoy for the U.S. State Department, has founded many companies (including Moderna) and has been awarded the United States National Medal of Science and United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In 2015, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Prize for Engineering. He is the most cited engineer in history. He has written over 1,500 articles, which have been cited over 424,000 times; his h-index of 321 is the highest of any engineer in history and the 3rd highest of any individual in any field. His patents have licensed or sublicensed to over 400 companies. Dr Langer served as Chairman of the FDA’s Science Board (its highest advisory board) from 1999-2002. Outside of work, Bob enjoys exercise, football, and magic. With his wife Laura, he has three children and two grandchildren.
Support for this episode of People Behind the Science was provided by Innovative Research, Inc.