CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PixarBio Corporation is proud to announce that our cofounder Robert S. Langer was named the recipient of the 2016 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Sciences from the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia to be awarded on Thursday April 21, 2016.
The long, distinguished history of The Franklin Institute Awards Program dates back to 1824, when the Institute was founded by a group of leading Philadelphians to train artisans and mechanics in the fundamentals of science. Philadelphia, then the largest city in the United States, was a burgeoning manufacturing center. In 1824, the Institute arranged the first of a series of annual exhibitions of manufactured goods. With these exhibitions came the presentation of awards—first certificates, and later endowed medals—for achievements in science and invention. The first written record of the Awards is in Volume 1, Number 1 of the Journal of The Franklin Institute published in January 1826.
Through its Awards Program, The Franklin Institute seeks to provide public recognition and encouragement of excellence in science and technology. The list of Franklin Institute laureates reads like a "Who's Who" in the history of 19th, 20th, and 21st century science, including Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Rudolf Diesel, Pierre and Marie Curie, Orville Wright, Albert Einstein, Edwin Hubble, Frank Lloyd Wright, Edmund Bacon, Marshall Warren Nirenberg, Jacques Cousteau, Mildred Cohn, Stephen Hawking, Martin Rees, Paul Baran, Gordon Moore, Jane Goodall, Herb Kelleher, Elizabeth Blackburn, Bill Gates, Dean Kamen, Subra Suresh, and Michael Dell.
Robert S. Langer was awarded the Franklin Medal in Life Science for his design and implementation of multiple innovative drug delivery systems, and for his founding work in the field of tissue engineering. As the leader of the world’s largest academic research lab and a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Langer established a new paradigm for translating academic ideas into practical USFDA approved products.
"For 191 years the Franklin Institute has provided inquisitive minds of all ages, a deep exploration into the sciences and technology. As a scientist and engineer Bob Langer's medical inventions have impacted over two billion lives. On a daily basis Bob opens new doors for both patients and scientists as he engages some of the most challenging neurological conditions and Bob’s impact will last for centuries. It’s an honor for our team to work with Bob as we extend just a couple of the fields he cofounded, tissue engineering and drug delivery, into chronic neurological disease," said PixarBio CEO Frank Reynolds.
About PixarBio Corporation
Cofounded by Frank Reynolds, MIT’s Robert S. Langer, Katrin Holzhaus, and Jason Criscione, PixarBio is focused on researching and developing targeted delivery systems to treat pain, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injury. For more information visit www.pixarbio.com.