Robert Samuel Langer Jr. FREng (born August 29, 1948) is an American scientist, engineer, and inventor. He is one of the nine Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He used to be the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and continues to work in the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. He is also a teacher at the Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Langer has over 1,400 patents that have been approved or are still being considered. He is one of the world’s most frequently cited researchers, with an h-index of 336 (as of March 8, 2026) and more than 472,000 citations. His work is widely recognized in biotechnology, especially in drug delivery systems and tissue engineering.
He is the most cited engineer in history and one of the 10 most cited individuals in any field. He has written over 1,600 scientific papers. Langer is also a successful businessman who helped start more than 40 biotechnology companies, including the well-known pharmaceutical company Moderna.
Langer’s research laboratory at MIT is the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world. It receives over $10 million each year in grants and has more than 100 researchers working there. He has received many awards for his scientific contributions.
Background and personal life
Langer was born on August 29, 1948, in Albany, New York. He graduated from The Milne School and earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University. He received his Doctorate in Science in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974. His dissertation was titled "Enzymatic regeneration of ATP" and was completed with the guidance of Clark K. Colton. From 1974 to 1977, he worked as a researcher at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School under the supervision of Judah Folkman.
Contributions to medicine and biotechnology
Langer is well known for his work in medicine and biotechnology. He helped develop new technologies, such as systems that release medicine slowly and systems that deliver medicine through the skin without using needles or other invasive methods.
Langer collaborated with Judah Folkman at Boston Children's Hospital to discover the first substance that stops blood vessels from growing in tumors. Large molecules like this are often broken down by the body or blocked by tissues if taken by mouth or injected. To solve this, Langer created a way to protect these molecules by placing them inside a special material that could be implanted in the tumor. This material slowly released the substance over time. His work led to the development of many modern drug delivery systems.
Langer also worked with Henry Brem from Johns Hopkins University to create a drug delivery method for treating brain cancer. This method delivers chemotherapy directly to the tumor. Over time, the implants he designed have become more advanced, allowing them to deliver multiple medicines and respond to changes in the body. In 2019, Langer and his team created a technique using microneedle patches to store medical information under the skin with invisible ink. This technology was especially helpful in areas with limited medical record systems. The method uses a special dye and a vaccine delivered through a microneedle patch.
Langer is considered the founder of tissue engineering in regenerative medicine. He and his team have made progress in creating artificial tissues, such as blood vessels and muscle tissue. Synthetic materials act as a base for growing new skin, muscle, bone, and even whole organs. These materials can be safe for the body and gradually break down over time. This could help people who have lost tissue due to injuries or birth defects.
Langer is involved in research related to diabetes. With Daniel G. Anderson, he has worked on a project with scientists from MIT, Harvard University, and other institutions to develop an implantable device that protects insulin-producing cells from the immune system. He is also part of a team at MIT that created a capsule to deliver insulin orally to people with type 1 diabetes.
Awards and honors
At 43 years old, Langer became the youngest person in history to be elected to all three American science academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine. He was also one of the first members of the National Academy of Inventors. In 2010, he was elected as an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Langer has received more than 220 major awards. He is one of only three living people to have received both the U.S. National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
In 1996, he received the Gairdner Foundation International Award. In 1998, he was honored with the Lemelson-MIT Prize for invention and innovation. In 2002, he received the Othmer Gold Medal, the Dickson Prize in Science, and the Charles Stark Draper Prize, which is seen as similar to the Nobel Prize for engineers. In 2003, he was awarded the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, the Harvey Prize in Science & Technology and Human Health. In 2005, he received the Dan David Prize and the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. In 2006, President George W. Bush presented him with the United States National Medal of Science. In 2008, he received the Max Planck Research Award, the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific Research, and Finland’s Millennium Technology Prize for developing innovative biomaterials for controlled drug release. In 2010, he was elected an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2011, he was recognized by The Economist with an Innovation award in bioscience and received the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. In 2012, he was awarded the Perkin Medal, the Wilhelm Exner Medal, and the Priestley Medal, the highest honor given by the American Chemical Society for outstanding service in chemistry. In 2013, President Obama presented him with the United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and he received the Wolf Prize in Chemistry for advances in polymer chemistry that support drug-release systems and new biomaterials. In 2013, he also received the IEEE Medal for Innovations in Healthcare Technology. In 2014, he was honored with the Biotechnology Heritage Award, the $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, and the Kyoto Prize. In 2015, he received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, was named Cornell University’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and received the Scheele Award, Kazemi Prize, and Hoover Medal. In 2016, he was awarded the European Inventor Award and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science. In 2017, he received the Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine and was named the top Translational Researcher in the World by Nature Biotechnology. In 2018, he was again named the top Translational Researcher in the World and received the Leadership Award for Historic Scientific Advancement from the American Chemical Society. In 2018, he was also inducted into the Advanced Materials Hall of Fame. In 2019, he received the Hope Funds for Cancer Award of Excellence in Basic Sciences, the National Library of Medicine’s Distinguished Medical Science Award, and the Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences. In 2020, he was awarded the Maurice Marie–Janot Award and Portugal’s highest honor, the Medalha da Ciência. In 2021, he was elected a Foreign Associate of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and received the Biomaterials Global Impact Award, the Falch Lecture Prize, the John P. Merrill Award, and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award. In 2022, he received the Balzan Prize. In 2023, he was honored with the Cornell Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award, the Genome Valley Excellence Award (India), and the Hamilton Medal (Queen’s University Belfast). In 2023/2024, he received the Paul Janssen Award. In 2024, he was awarded the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience. In 2025, he will receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Lipid Science Prize (Camurus Lipid Research Foundation, Sweden), the Double Helix Medal with Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and will be elected to the Plastics Hall of Fame. In 2026, he will be named number 39 of the Forbes 250 America’s Greatest Innovators, the highest rank for an academic scientist.
Langer has also received other awards, including the 10th Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy, and Employment (2003). In 2013, he was awarded the IRI Medal with George M. Whitesides for significant contributions to technological innovation. He also received the Rusnano Prize that year.
Langer has received honorary degrees from 44 universities worldwide, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Oxford Universities, as well as the UCSF medal. In November 2024, Chiba Institute of Technology awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Business ventures
Langer has helped start more than twenty companies in partnership with the investment company Polaris Partners. The success of these companies and Langer’s role in them have been described by Harvard Business Review.
Langer is a member of the Advisory Board of Patient Innovation, a nonprofit organization that helps patients and caregivers from around the world and in many languages share their ideas for free. He is also part of the Xconomists, a group of experts who help with writing and editing for the tech news and media company Xconomy.
Additionally, Langer works as a Scientific Advisor to Helus Pharma and Lindus Health.