[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/langer.jpg” caption=”Robert Langer”]Microchips for treating heart disease and cancer. Synthetic tissue for treating severe burns and vascular disease. These are just two examples of a new generation of biomaterials that are being developed to treat life-threatening medical conditions. And this is only the beginning.

Robert Langer, one of the world's leading biotechnology specialists, will be the guest speaker at the 21st Annual J.W. Hodgins Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, March 1. He will speak about “Biomaterials and How They Will Change Our Lives.”

The free lecture is open to the public. It will take place in the McMaster Health Sciences Centre, Rm. HSC-1A at 4 p.m., followed by a reception and light refreshments.

Langer is a professor of chemical & biomedical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2004, he was selected as one of six “heroes whose research may save your life” by Parade Magazine, a weekly lifestyle magazine with more than 75-million readers. He has received more than 120 major awards, including the Charles Stark Draper Prize, considered the Nobel Prize equivalent for engineers, and the Gairdner Foundation International Award, of which 61 recipients have subsequently received a Nobel Prize. He has been recognized by Forbes Magazine, Discover Magazine, Bio World, Time Magazine and CNN.

The J.W. Hodgins Memorial Lecture was established by the Faculty of Engineering in 1983 as a memorial to J.W. Hodgins, the first dean of engineering at McMaster University. The focus of the lecture is on the engineer in society.