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BioTalk_April 2016_MIT Scientist Dr Robert Langer_Raj Gunashekar

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Raj Gunashekar
Raj Gunashekar

Dr. Robert Langer was awarded the 2015 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for his pioneering work developing polymers for controlled drug delivery. His lab focuses on using polymers to deliver drugs like proteins, DNA, and RNAi at controlled rates over prolonged periods. This work helps ensure drugs are effective by maintaining therapeutic levels in the body. Dr. Langer shared that his interest in science began as a child doing experiments in his home basement laboratory. He has over 1,000 patents and advises that scientists pursuing entrepreneurship should have strong intellectual property and not start a company too early.

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16 BioSpectrum | April 2016 | www.biospectrumindia.com | An MM Activ Publication BioTalk QE Prize winner Dr Langer shares his success Dr Robert Langer Winner of Queen Elizabeth Prize of Engineering 2015, & David H Koch Institute Professor, Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA D r Robert Samuel Langer was awarded the 2015 Queen Elizabeth Prize (QE- Prize) for Engineering in February 2015 at the Royal Academy of Engineering, London, UK. He is a world-renowned American scientist, engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, and David H Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is considered as the highest international accolade for engineering, and recognizes ground-breaking global innovation to inspire next-gen engineers. The award is a global £1 million prize celebrating pio- neering innovations that has had a profound benefit to humanity globally. Dr Langer lab’s work is at the interface of biotechnology and material science. His lab’s major focus is in studying and development of polymers to deliver drugs, particu- larly genetically-engineered proteins, DNA and RNAi, continuously at controlled rates for prolonged periods of time. Dr Langer exclusively spoke to BioSpectrum, where he shared his passion, origins, memories of his childhood laboratory, entrepreneurial tips and his award-winning work on controlled-release drug systems. Excerpts: Q Firstly, a hearty congratulations Dr Langer. Tell us about your award-winning BioTalk
18 BioSpectrum | April 2016 | www.biospectrumindia.com | An MM Activ Publication BioTalk work to our Indian readers, and the impact of your controlled-release drug systems. A Thank you. I think engineering is such a wonderful way to contribute to society. The two things that give me the greatest satisfaction are discovering principles or making inventions that enable people to have happier and healthier lives, and seeing the people who train in our lab succeed to become future leaders in engineering themselves. There are times when drugs administered to patients could react after being in the system for more than the required period of time or they might be ineffective by disappearing quickly. To tackle this, controlled drug re- lease helps maintain and sustain the drug release at an effective level for the suitable period of time. The polymer which was invented through my study helps in controlled dissemination of the drug molecules. My work which won the QEPrize is on engineered polymers which control the delivery of large molecular weight drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer and mental illness. It is already being used in various countries, including India. I am thrilled to be the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Prize 2015. The prize celebrates ground-breaking innova- tions in engineering and in addition strives to celebrate stories of engineering successes, raising the international public profile of engineering and inspiring new genera- tions of engineers to take up the challenges of the future. Q What sparked you to become a scientist? A Some of it started as a child having chemistry, mi- croscope and erector sets. My dad also played a lot of math games with me. All this contributed to my liking science and math. Q Shed some light about the lab in your home’s basement in Albany. A It was a small basement and I had a Gilbert chemis- try set. I put all the chemicals down there and I loved doing experiments where I would make things like rubber and make solutions change colors via chemical reactions. Q You have a background in Chemical Engineering. What made you to shift towards Biomedical Engineering? A I always wanted to learn biology. My PhD thesis was on the enzymatic regeneration of ATP. I did my postdoc in a surgery lab at Boston’s children’s hos- pital. I was the only engineer in the hospital. It really gave For young people, I’d say dream big dreams, dreams that can change the world and make it a better place me all kinds of ideas as to how chemical engineering could be applied to medicine. Q You have been researching since the 70s. How difficult or hard has it been for you to achieve what you have achieved today? A Very difficult. My first nine research grants were turned down largely because my research went against conventional wisdom. No chemical engi- neering department would hire me as a professor. And I ended up joining a nutrition department. The year after I joined, the department head who hired me left. So the as- sociate department heads decided to give me advice. They told me to start looking for another job. Time helped me overcome some of these issues as we proved that conven- tional wisdom was incorrect. And I just never gave up. Q You have over 1,000 patents to your credit. How will you define innovation? A A new idea or invention, and its implementation into real life Q You are also an entrepreneur too. What do you have to say to all the scientists who want to be an entrepreneur? A: I think it’s an attractive career path but not the only career path. Personally I love it because it enables myself and my students to take our ideas into the real world and help people. But science leads to many good career paths. Q What are the common mistakes committed by scientists while they pursue their entrepreneurial dreams? A Starting a company too early. Not having good in- tellectual property (IPs). Q What do you advice students who hesitate to become a scientist or pursue a research- oriented career? A I think that’s okay. Everyone should get lots of ad- vice. But they should follow their passion. I think people should do things that make them happy. And they shouldn’t do things just to make money.  BS Raj Gunashekar

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BioTalk_April 2016_MIT Scientist Dr Robert Langer_Raj Gunashekar

  • 1. 16 BioSpectrum | April 2016 | www.biospectrumindia.com | An MM Activ Publication BioTalk QE Prize winner Dr Langer shares his success Dr Robert Langer Winner of Queen Elizabeth Prize of Engineering 2015, & David H Koch Institute Professor, Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA D r Robert Samuel Langer was awarded the 2015 Queen Elizabeth Prize (QE- Prize) for Engineering in February 2015 at the Royal Academy of Engineering, London, UK. He is a world-renowned American scientist, engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, and David H Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is considered as the highest international accolade for engineering, and recognizes ground-breaking global innovation to inspire next-gen engineers. The award is a global £1 million prize celebrating pio- neering innovations that has had a profound benefit to humanity globally. Dr Langer lab’s work is at the interface of biotechnology and material science. His lab’s major focus is in studying and development of polymers to deliver drugs, particu- larly genetically-engineered proteins, DNA and RNAi, continuously at controlled rates for prolonged periods of time. Dr Langer exclusively spoke to BioSpectrum, where he shared his passion, origins, memories of his childhood laboratory, entrepreneurial tips and his award-winning work on controlled-release drug systems. Excerpts: Q Firstly, a hearty congratulations Dr Langer. Tell us about your award-winning BioTalk
  • 2. 18 BioSpectrum | April 2016 | www.biospectrumindia.com | An MM Activ Publication BioTalk work to our Indian readers, and the impact of your controlled-release drug systems. A Thank you. I think engineering is such a wonderful way to contribute to society. The two things that give me the greatest satisfaction are discovering principles or making inventions that enable people to have happier and healthier lives, and seeing the people who train in our lab succeed to become future leaders in engineering themselves. There are times when drugs administered to patients could react after being in the system for more than the required period of time or they might be ineffective by disappearing quickly. To tackle this, controlled drug re- lease helps maintain and sustain the drug release at an effective level for the suitable period of time. The polymer which was invented through my study helps in controlled dissemination of the drug molecules. My work which won the QEPrize is on engineered polymers which control the delivery of large molecular weight drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer and mental illness. It is already being used in various countries, including India. I am thrilled to be the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Prize 2015. The prize celebrates ground-breaking innova- tions in engineering and in addition strives to celebrate stories of engineering successes, raising the international public profile of engineering and inspiring new genera- tions of engineers to take up the challenges of the future. Q What sparked you to become a scientist? A Some of it started as a child having chemistry, mi- croscope and erector sets. My dad also played a lot of math games with me. All this contributed to my liking science and math. Q Shed some light about the lab in your home’s basement in Albany. A It was a small basement and I had a Gilbert chemis- try set. I put all the chemicals down there and I loved doing experiments where I would make things like rubber and make solutions change colors via chemical reactions. Q You have a background in Chemical Engineering. What made you to shift towards Biomedical Engineering? A I always wanted to learn biology. My PhD thesis was on the enzymatic regeneration of ATP. I did my postdoc in a surgery lab at Boston’s children’s hos- pital. I was the only engineer in the hospital. It really gave For young people, I’d say dream big dreams, dreams that can change the world and make it a better place me all kinds of ideas as to how chemical engineering could be applied to medicine. Q You have been researching since the 70s. How difficult or hard has it been for you to achieve what you have achieved today? A Very difficult. My first nine research grants were turned down largely because my research went against conventional wisdom. No chemical engi- neering department would hire me as a professor. And I ended up joining a nutrition department. The year after I joined, the department head who hired me left. So the as- sociate department heads decided to give me advice. They told me to start looking for another job. Time helped me overcome some of these issues as we proved that conven- tional wisdom was incorrect. And I just never gave up. Q You have over 1,000 patents to your credit. How will you define innovation? A A new idea or invention, and its implementation into real life Q You are also an entrepreneur too. What do you have to say to all the scientists who want to be an entrepreneur? A: I think it’s an attractive career path but not the only career path. Personally I love it because it enables myself and my students to take our ideas into the real world and help people. But science leads to many good career paths. Q What are the common mistakes committed by scientists while they pursue their entrepreneurial dreams? A Starting a company too early. Not having good in- tellectual property (IPs). Q What do you advice students who hesitate to become a scientist or pursue a research- oriented career? A I think that’s okay. Everyone should get lots of ad- vice. But they should follow their passion. I think people should do things that make them happy. And they shouldn’t do things just to make money.  BS Raj Gunashekar