Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. (see Officers)

Mr. Joseph W. Reilly (see Officers)

Robert S. Langer, Sc.D
Dr. Langer is one of 13 Institute Professors (the highest honor awarded to a faculty member) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 
Dr. Langer has written over 950 articles.  He also has more than 600 issued or pending patents worldwide, one of which was cited as the outstanding patent in Massachusetts in 1988 and one of 20 outstanding patents in the United States.
Dr. Langer’s patents have been licensed or sublicensed to over 200 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology and medical device companies; a number of these companies were launched on the basis of these patent licenses.   He served as a member of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s SCIENCE Board, the FDA’s highest advisory board, from 1995 -- 2002 and as Chairman from 1999-2002.
His work is at the interface of biotechnology and materials science. A major focus is the study and development of polymers to deliver drugs, particularly genetically engineered proteins, DNA and RNAi, continuously at controlled rates for prolonged periods of time. Work is in progress in the following areas:

• Investigating the mechanism of release from polymeric delivery systems with concomitant microstructural analysis and mathematical modeling.
• Studying applications of these systems including the development of effective long-term delivery systems for insulin, anti-cancer drugs, growth factors, gene therapy agents and vaccines.
• Developing controlled release systems that can be magnetically, ultrasonically, or enzymatically triggered to increase release rates.
• Synthesizing new biodegradable polymeric delivery systems which will ultimately be absorbed by the body.
• Creating new approaches for delivering drugs such as proteins and genes across complex barriers in the body such as the blood-brain barrier, the intestine, the lung and the skin.
• Researching new ways to create tissue and organs including creating new polymer systems for tissue engineering.
• Stem cell research including controlling growth and differentiation.
• Creating new biomaterials with shape memory or surface switching properties.
• Angiogenesis inhibition.

Dr. Langer has received over 150 major awards.  In 2007, he received the 2006 United States National Medal of Science. In 2002, he received the Charles Stark Draper Prize, considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for engineers and the world’s most prestigious engineering prize, from the National Academy of Engineering. He is also the only engineer to receive the Gairdner Foundation International Award; 68 recipients of this award have subsequently received a Nobel Prize. Among numerous other awards Langer has received are the Dickson Prize for Science (2002), Heinz Award for Technology, Economy and Employment (2003), the Harvey Prize (2003), the John Fritz Award (2003) (given previously to inventors such as Thomas Edison and Orville Wright), the General Motors Kettering Prize for Cancer Research (2004), the Dan David Prize in Materials Science (2005) and the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research (2005), the largest prize in the U.S. for medical research.  In 2006, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.   In 1998, he received the Lemelson-MIT prize, the world’s largest prize for invention for being “one of history’s most prolific inventors in medicine.”  In 1989 Dr. Langer was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1992 he was elected to both the National Academy of Engineering and to the National Academy of Sciences.  He is one of very few people ever elected to all three United States National Academies and the youngest in history (at age 43) to ever receive this distinction. 
Forbes Magazine (1999) and Bio World (1990) have named Langer as one of the 25 most important individuals in biotechnology in the world.  Discover Magazine (2002) named him as one of the 20 most important people in this area.  Forbes Magazine (2002) selected Langer as one of the 15 innovators world wide who will reinvent our future.  Time Magazine and CNN (2001) named Langer as one of the 100 most important people in America and one of the 18 top people in science or medicine in America. Parade Magazine (2004) selected Langer as one of 6 “Heroes whose research may save your life.”  He has served, at various times, on 15 boards of directors and 30 Scientific Advisory Boards of such companies as Wyeth, Alkermes, Mitsubishi Pharmaceuticals, Warner-Lambert, and Momenta Pharmaceuticals.  Dr. Langer has received honorary doctorates from Yale University, the ETH (Switzerland), the Technion (Israel), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), the University of Liverpool (England), the University of Nottingham (England), Albany Medical College, the Pennsylvania State University, Northwestern University and Uppsala University (Sweden).  He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Cornell University in 1970 and his Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974, both in Chemical Engineering.

Michael B. Aronson

Mr. Aronson is the co-founder and General Partner of MentorTech Ventures, an early-stage technology and life sciences fund focusing on companies related to the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the boards of many of MentorTech’s portfolio companies. Mr. Aronson is also a co-founder and General Partner of SVM Israel, a special opportunities fund focused on investments in both funds and operating companies in Israel. Previously, Mr. Aronson was a founding shareholder and/or co-founder of five successful software companies, two of which were acquired by public entities, three by private investors.  He was an early investor in two additional software companies, one of which was acquired by a public company, and one of which had a successful IPO. Mr. Aronson serves on the Board and Finance and Investment Committees of the Ben Franklin Technology Fund. He is also a member of the Limited Partner Advisory Board of Rustic Canyon Ventures, a West Coast-based $180m technology fund. Mr. Aronson graduated with Honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 with a B.S. in Entrepreneurial Management and Multinational Enterprise. From 1981 till 1993, Mr. Aronson was a Senior Lecturer at The Wharton School where he taught more than 4,000 students including the founders and/or Senior Partners of many leading Venture Capital and Private Equity funds.

Russell E. Tweeddale

Russell E. Tweeddale is a Managing Director, Investments for Connecticut Innovations, Inc. During Mr. Tweeddale’s 23 year tenure at CI, he has worked with over 50 companies and has had 7 successful IPOs. The investments ranged across a wide spectrum of technologies including medical devices, biotechnology, cellular telephony and Information Technology. He serves on a number of his clients’ Board of Directors in addition to being an advisor to many young companies.

Mr. Tweeddale is the 2009 recipient of the E. Charles McClenachan Award presented to an individual who has dedicated his or her time and expertise to supporting the mission of CI. The recipient of the award is also recognized for dedication to the technology community, for community spirit and for advancing the collaborative environment that Connecticut’s technology sector has nurtured.

Before joining CII in 1985, Mr. Tweeddale spent twenty years with United Technologies in various capacities, held a number of Information Technology positions with leasing and consulting firms and has been a consult to banks, insurance companies, the Air Force and NASA. Mr. Tweeddale has an extensive background in economic and venture analysis, systems analysis and computer modeling. He holds a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA with a concentration in Information Sciences.