Rate My Professor Robert Langer

Langer's research specializes in developing polymers and lipids for controlled, prolonged delivery of drugs such as genetically engineered proteins, DNA, and RNA. Key efforts include inhibiting neovascularization critical to cancer without affecting existing blood vessels and engineering tissues for mammalian cell transplants to form liver, cartilage, pancreas, and nerves. He has authored over 1,600 articles with an h-index of 336 and more than 472,000 citations, the highest for any engineer in history. Langer holds over 1,500 issued and pending patents licensed to more than 400 companies, leading to 41 FDA-approved products. Notable publications include "Nanocarriers as an emerging platform for cancer therapy" (2007), "Engineering precision nanoparticles for drug delivery" (2021), "Hydrogels in biology and medicine: from molecular principles to bionanotechnology" (2006), "Transdermal drug delivery" (2008), and "Impact of nanotechnology on drug delivery" (2009). He is a co-founder of companies including Moderna and has received over 220 major awards, such as the U.S. National Medal of Science (2006), U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2011), Gairdner Foundation International Award (1996), Charles Stark Draper Prize (2002), Millennium Technology Prize (2008), Priestley Medal (2012), Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2013), Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2014), Kyoto Prize (2014), Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (2015), Balzan Prize (2022), Dr. Paul Janssen Award (2023), and Kavli Prize in Nanoscience (2024). Elected to the National Academy of Medicine (1989), National Academy of Engineering (1992), National Academy of Sciences (1992), and National Academy of Inventors (2012), he holds 46 honorary doctorates.