Robert S. Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the father of modern biomaterials, will present the First Patten Distinguished Lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Langer will speak on "Biomaterials: Advances in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering" at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 10, in Old Main Chapel. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception at the CU Heritage Center.
Langer, who teaches chemical and biomedical engineering at MIT, has written more than 600 scientific publications and holds over 350 patents. His research has led to revolutionary discoveries in the areas of polymeric controlled release systems and tissue engineering.
He has received more than 70 major awards, including the Lemelson-MIT Prize for being "one of history聮s most prolific inventors in medicine." He is the only engineer to ever receive the Gairdner Foundation International Award, and he is the youngest person ever elected to all three national academies of the United States: the National Academy of Sciences (1992), the National Academy of Engineering (1992) and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (1989).
The Patten Distinguished Lecture is funded by the James M. and Catherine T. Patten endowment, established in the department of chemical engineering, in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. The endowment, which also sponsors a seminar series, honors the late James Patten, a 1924 chemical engineering graduate of the University of Colorado.