Bioengineering & Translational Medicine honors biotech pioneers Langer and Peppas

Hoboken, N.J–January 18, 2019–Bioengineering & Translational Medicine (BioTM), published by Wiley on behalf of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and its Society for Biological Engineering (SBE), has released a tribute issue dedicated to research inspired by Robert Langer and Nicholas Peppas — two biotechnology luminaries whose game-changing contributions to drug delivery and biomaterials have made those fields integral elements of modern chemical engineering research and education.

Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), established in his early career that proteins could be encapsulated in polymeric matrices and released in a sustained manner, and went on to invent many new biomedical technologies for drug delivery, as well as pioneering tissue engineering techniques for regenerative medicine. Nicholas Peppas, the Cockrell Family Regents Chaired Professor in Engineering, Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin, established the quantitative principles for describing drug release from porous matrices and hydrogels, and his subsequent work in biomaterials and bionanotechnology has spawned many biomedical breakthroughs.

In a forward to the tribute issue, Aaron C. Anselmo, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, writes that the efforts of Langer and Peppas — individually and taken together — “have shaped the scholastic, academic, and technological landscape of drug delivery and biomaterials as we know them today.” Anselmo adds that Langer’s and Peppas’s pioneering research, along with their prominent leadership, “has advanced the visibility of drug delivery and biomaterials in the scientific landscape, especially within chemical engineering, and has inspired young professionals to follow their paths. The work featured in this issue provides a snapshot of the exciting work that has been inspired by them.”

Samir Mitragotri, Editor-in-Chief said, “It’s a privilege to honor Nicholas Peppas and Robert Langer in a special issue of BioTM. These two pioneers of drug delivery and biomaterials established the vision for the field, and brought it to the forefront through scholarly research, innovative technologies and inspirational mentorship to several generations of trainees.”

The January 2019 tribute issue of BioTM (Vol. 4, Issue 1) contains research articles from some of Langer’s and Peppas’s former students, as well as colleagues and admirers. The issue is freely available to read, download and share from Wiley Online Library at http://www.bioengtransmed.com.

Launched in 2015, BioTM journal focuses on the fundamental ways chemical and biological engineering approaches drive and provide innovative technologies and solutions that impact clinical practice and/or commercial healthcare products. Visit the journal website for more information.

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Established in 2004, the Society for Biological Engineering is a technological community for engineers and applied scientists integrating biology with engineering. Members of SBE come from a broad spectrum of industries and disciplines and share in SBE’s mission of realizing the benefits of bioprocessing, biomedical and biomolecular applications. http://bio.aiche.org.

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