Langer Receives Wolf Prize

Abstract

Robert S. Langer, a chemical engineer and the David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received the 2013 Wolf Prize in Chemistry on May 5 in a ceremony at the Knesset in Jerusalem. The award was presented by Israeli President Shimon Peres. The Wolf Prizes, which are sometimes called the Israeli Nobels, are given by the Wolf Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Israel that honors scientists and artists for achievements that benefit humanity. Langer received the $100,000 prize in recognition of his work on polymer systems for drug delivery and tissue engineering. Notably, he invented polyanhydride polymers with tunable degradation properties to controllably release macromolecular drugs over sustained periods of time. These polymers steadily erode in water, releasing macromolecules embedded in them. The erosion rate can be tuned by changing the chemical properties of the polymers. Langer’s first therapeutic success in this area was with Gliadel wafers, ...