Next-gen therapeutics where Medicine meets Engineering
Speaker: Robert S. Langer - David H. Koch Institute Professor, MIT
Advanced drug delivery systems are having an enormous impact on human health. We start by discussing our early research on developing the first controlled release systems for macromolecules and the isolation of angiogenesis inhibitors and how these led to numerous new therapies. This early research then led to new drug delivery technologies including nanoparticles and nanotechnology that are now being used in treating cancer, other illnesses, and in vaccine delivery, including COVID vaccines. In addition, by combining mammalian cells, including stem cells, with synthetic polymers, new approaches for engineering tissues are being developed that may someday help in various diseases. Examples in the areas of cartilage, skin, blood vessels, hearing loss and spinal cord repair are discussed.
Speaker: Daniel G. Anderson - Joseph R. Mares Professor in Chemical Engineering, MIT
Advanced drug delivery systems are having an enormous impact on human health. We starMedical devices have had a profound impact on human health. Over the past several decades, the materials that we use to build these devices have advanced dramatically, leading to new types of treatments for human disease. An example of this are biomaterials that can be combined with human cells to create living medical devices. We have worked to engineer materials that can hide from the immune system, thereby allowing for the transplantation of therapeutic cells without the need for immune suppression.
More information can be found on the website of the lecture.
