Robert S. Langer, ScD
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) honored Robert S. Langer, ScD, with the 2016 AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016, held in New Orleans, on April 16–20.
The AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship was established in 2004 to acknowledge an individual whose outstanding personal innovation in science and whose position as a thought leader in fields relevant to cancer research has the potential to inspire creative thinking and new directions in cancer research. The recipient is selected by the AACR President and is not open to nominations.
Dr. Langer is the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was recognized for his groundbreaking research at the interface of biotechnology and materials science, which has led to the development of cutting-edge drug-delivery systems, and to seminal breakthroughs in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He has authored more than 1,250 articles and holds nearly 1,050 patents.
Awards and Degrees
Dr. Langer’s extensive list of honors include the U.S. National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation; the Charles Stark Draper Prize; the Millennium Prize; the Priestly Medal from the American Chemical Society; the Wolf Prize in Chemistry; the 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences; the Kyoto Prize; and the Canada Gairdner International Award. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Inventors.
Dr. Langer received his doctorate in chemical engineering from MIT, where he joined the faculty as Assistant Professor of Nutritional Biology. ■
