Desert Island Discs: Archive: 2016-201816 Okt 2016

Dr Robert Langer

Kirsty Young's castaway is the scientist Dr Robert Langer. Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he is the most cited engineer in history, and was awarded the prestigious US medals of both Science and of Technology and Innovation. A pioneer of many new technologies including controlled release drug delivery systems and nanotechnology, Langer is also regarded as the founder of tissue engineering in regenerative medicine where synthetic structures are used to provide the scaffolding on which new skin, muscle, bone and potentially entire organs can be grown.

Born in Albany, New York, in 1948, Langer's interest in science was kindled by the Gilbert chemistry, microscope and building sets he was given as birthday presents by his parents. He studied chemical engineering at Cornell University before getting his Doctor of Science from MIT in 1974. His enthusiasm wasn't fired up by the many job offers from oil companies he received, preferring to apply to work in the medical sector. After many unsuccessful applications, he was hired by Dr Judah Folkman, a surgeon at Harvard, who tasked Langer with isolating a compound to restrict blood vessel growth in order to stop a tumour from growing. His work at the interface of medicine and engineering led to him being awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2015. He attributes his success to "a combination of stubbornness, risk taking, perhaps being reasonably smart and wanting to do good".

Producer: Christine Pawlowsky.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(126)

Sara Khan

Kirsty Young's castaway is Sara Khan.A British Muslim human rights activist, she's the director of Inspire, a counter-extremism and women's rights organisation which she co-founded in 2009.Born in Bra...

26 Juni 201635min

Barrie Rutter

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor and theatre director Barrie Rutter.He is the founder and artistic director of the touring theatre company Northern Broadsides. There was nothing in his background ...

19 Juni 201633min

Warwick Davis

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor Warwick Davis.His career began thanks to his grandmother who heard a radio advert calling for short people to be in the latest of George Lucas's Star Wars films. H...

12 Juni 201635min

David Nott

Kirsty Young's castaway is the surgeon, David Nott.He works across three London hospitals performing general, vascular, trauma & reconstructive surgery. In addition, for the past two decades, he's spe...

5 Juni 201636min

Professor Louise Richardson

Kirsty Young's castaway is the political scientist and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University Professor Louise Richardson.She was born in Ireland, is one of seven children and has gone on to have an int...

31 Maj 201634min

Berry Gordy

Kirsty Young's castaway is the producer Berry Gordy.He founded the Motown record label and his musical empire made worldwide stars of Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Jac...

22 Maj 201634min

Inga Beale

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the business woman, Inga Beale.She has been the CEO of Lloyd's of London since January 2014 and was the first woman to hold the post in the 325 years since the ins...

15 Maj 201636min

Tom Hanks, actor

Kirsty Young's castaway is Tom Hanks.From 'Big' to 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'Captain Phillips' to 'Apollo 13', his long and distinguished film-making career has brought him multiple awards and many pla...

8 Maj 201647min