Genome Valley Excellence Award goes to Prof Langer

Hyderabad: The 20th edition of BioAsia, organised by the Government of Telangana, has announced the coveted Genome Valley Excellence Award for the year 2023 will be conferred upon Prof Robert S Langer, in light of his pioneering research that has led to the development of the first commercial mRNA vaccines.

Langer is currently a Professor at David H Koch Institute Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He is also being acknowledged for his exemplary research in human health, including the detection, monitoring, and treatment of cancer.

A veteran in his field, his remarkable contributions to biomedical and therapeutic research include developing long-term and controlled-release drug delivery systems used for a variety of applications including cancer therapy, insulin and vaccines.

As the director of the eponymous Langer Labs, he works at the intersection of biotechnology and material science and his research helped lay foundation for the underlying delivery mechanism that led to the development of the first commercial mRNA vaccines.

In 2010, he co-founded Moderna, the biotech company that came to prominence for developing an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19. He is also prolific in the scientific community having authored more than 1,500 scientific papers, making him the most-cited engineer in history.

Langer is also a serial entrepreneur being instrumental in starting more than 40 companies and is a recipient of numerous awards including the Queen Elizabeth prize for engineering. A distinguished jury of eminent figures of national and international reputation made the final selection of the awardee.

Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said, "We really want to celebrate people who created an extraordinary impact within the Life Science community and there is no one who better fits the bill than Prof Langer. BioAsia is honoured to present him with this award and celebrate his life's work."

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary (I&C), Government of Telangana, "Over the years, the Genome Valley Excellence Award has been presented to distinguished people whose have made vauable contributions in the field of Life sciences and Public Health. And this year is no exception."

He further said, "We are proud to confer this award to Prof Langer whose contributions including commercialising mRNA vaccine, drug delivery systems and tissue engineering has completely transformed the future landscape. His life and work is a source of inspiration to many and is a testament to keep going and doing what a lot of people think is impossible and unattainable."

"The Genome Valley Excellence award has gained immense reputation benefitting from its extraordinary recipient history and is now regarded one of the most prestigious awards. Prof Langer defines the word relentless and we are thrilled to welcome him at BioAsia 2023," said Shakthi M Nagappan, CEO, BioAsia and Director of Lifesciences and Pharma, Government of Telangana. He said, "A man of many hats – be it an engineer, scientist, researcher and serial entrepreneur, he has truly made his mark and has changed the landscape of biotechnology for the generations to come. Having started and guided many companies, his entrepreneurial pursuits have been an extension of his research and unwavering commitment to serve mankind."

"Highlighting Prof Langer and his work through this award should encourage the children of our community to be students of science and really see firsthand, how pursuing science can create impact and make a world of difference in the lives of many," Nagappan added.

Genome Valley Excellence Award

Genome Valley Excellence Award was introduced to recognise and honour eminent individuals and organisations for their exceptional contribution to Life Sciences Research & Public Health. The Government of Telangana had instituted this award during its first BioAsia 2004 and is being continued in every edition of the event.

(This is the third article of WTC Shamshabad- BioAsia 2023 Series, a collaborative effort of World Trade Center - Shamshabad and BioAsia, Asia's largest life-sciences and healthcare forum, to highlight the achievements and accelerate growth in the Life Sciences industry)

Recipient History

v 2022 - Dr Drew Weissman, Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

v 2021 - Bharat Biotech International Ltd Founders Dr Krishna Ella and Dr Suchitra Ella

v 2020 - Dr Carl June, CAR-T Cell Therapy Pioneer & Richard W Vague Professor in Immunotherapy, Dept of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA

v 2019 - Dr Don Cleveland, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California, USA

v 2018 - Prof Michael Hall, University of Basel, Switzerland

v 2017 - Prof Kurt Wuthrich, Scripps Research Institute, USA and Dr Paul Stoffels, Worldwide Chairman of Pharma, Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson, USA

v 2016 - Prof Ada E Yonath, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

v 2015 - Prof Mark Caulfield, Director, Genomics England & William Harvey Research Institute, UK and Dr Stephen Doberstein, Chief Scientific Officer, Nektar Therapeutics

v 2014 - Prof Dr HaraldzurHausen, Former Scientific Director DKFZ, Germany GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), UK and Dr Rogerio Ribero, President of Emerging Markets, GSK, UK

v 2013 - Dr MK Bhan, Former Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Biotechnology and Dr Freda Lewis-Hall, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer (Worldwide), Pfizer Inc, USA

v 2012 - Dr Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer, GAVI Alliance, Geneva Merck & Co Inc, NJ, USA and Kevin Ali, President (Emerging Markets), Merck & Co Inc, USA

v 2011 - Dr K Anji Reddy, Chairman, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad, India and Beijing Institute of Genomics, Beijing, China

v 2010 - Padma Vibhushan Prof C R Rao, Director of The Center for Multivariate Analysis, Pennsylvania State University, USA and Prof Janet Thornton, Director of EMBL European Bio Informatics Institute, Cambridge, UK