Mehmet Toner

Mehmet Toner (born 1958) is a Turkish biomedical engineer. He is currently the Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School,[1] with a joint appointment as professor at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST).[2]

Mehmet Toner
Born1958 (age 64–65)
Istanbul, Turkey
NationalityTurkish American
Alma materMIT
ITU
AwardsAmerican Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, National Academy of Inventors, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine.
Scientific career
FieldsCryobiology, Biomedical Engineering
InstitutionsHarvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Doctoral advisorErnest G. Cravalho
Notable studentsAlbert Folch, Sangeeta Bhatia, Alexander Revzin

Toner is a co-founder and Associate Director of the Center for Engineering in Medicine (CEM) at MGH and Director of the Biomedical Engineering Research and Education Program at MGH. He is one of the Senior Scientific Staff of the Shriners Hospital for Children. He is the founding Director of the National Institute of Health's BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems or BioMEMS Resource Center at MGH.[3]

Toner has made contributions to the fields of cryobiology and biopreservation and to the wider field of biomedical engineering.[4] He has developed techniques in microtechnology and nanotechnology for use in clinical medicine, including the treatment of cancer.[5] He has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE),[6] the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE),[7] and the National Academy of Medicine.[8]

Early life and education

Toner was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1958.[5] He obtained his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering at the Istanbul Technical University in 1983, and his master's degree in mechanical engineering at MIT in 1985. Next Toner studied medical engineering[3] with Ernest G. Cravalho[9] at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), completing his Ph.D. in 1989.[3] He completed postdoctoral work under Martin Yarmush and Ronald G. Tompkins at MGH.[10]

Career

In 1989 Toner joined the faculty of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and became an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Harvard Medical School. He became an Associate Professor in 1996, and a Professor in 2002. He is jointly appointed as a Professor of Health Sciences and Technology for the Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology.[3][5]

In 1995 Toner co-founded the Center for Engineering in Medicine (CEM) at MGH. becoming its Associate Director. That year, he also founded the Biomedical Engineering Research and Education Program at MGH, becoming its Director. In 2004, he became founding director of the NIH BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS) Resource Center at MGH.[11]

In 1999, Toner helped to found the Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, serving as associate editor.[5] As of 2021, Toner became co-editor of the Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, sharing the position with Martin L. Yarmush.[12]

Research

Toner's early work focused on understanding cellular injuries during cryopreservation and finding optimum strategies for cell preservation.[13] Toner developed a theory of intra-cellular ice formation while completing his PhD in Medical Engineering at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As part of that work, he proposed acetylated trehalose as a novel cryoprotectant.[14][15]

Toner's later work includes bio-sensing, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. He has helped to develop microelectromechanical and microfluidic devices for point-of-care detection of cancer, AIDS, genetic defects and infectious diseases.[7] He has received awards for the development of the CTC-chip, a microchip which can isolate and detect circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood.[16][5] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Toner worked with scientists at several institutions to develop a fast, reliable test for SARS-CoV-2 virus.[17]

Awards

References
  1. "Prof. Mehmet Toner". MIT Industrial Liaison Program. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  2. "Mehmet Toner, PhD". Center for Engineering in Medicine & Surgery. Massachusetts General Hospital. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  3. "Mehmet Toner, Ph.D." The Center for Engineering in Medicine. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  4. "Mehmet Toner | Harvard Catalyst Profiles | Harvard Catalyst".
  5. "Mehmet Toner". Rock Stars of Science. 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  6. "Mehmet Toner, Ph.D. AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 1999". American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  7. "Turkish professor elected to US National Academy of Engineering". Hürriyet Daily News. February 28, 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  8. "National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members". National Academy of Medicine. October 21, 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  9. "Ernest G. Cravalho". Academic Family Tree. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  10. Yarmush, M. L.; Tompkins, R. G.; Toner, M. (2001). "Hepatic tissue engineering". Annual Reports of the Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University (4): 4062. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  11. "Directorate for Engineering Advisory Committee Members" (PDF). National Science Foundation avatar National Science Foundation. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  12. "Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering". Annual Reviews. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  13. Erturk, Maureen (March 26, 2009). "Harvard's Ice Man". TurkOfAmerica. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  14. "Wait not in vain". The Economist. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  15. Abazari, Alireza; Meimetis, Labros G.; Budin, Ghyslain; Bale, Shyam Sundhar; Weissleder, Ralph; Toner, Mehmet (26 June 2015). "Engineered Trehalose Permeable to Mammalian Cells". PLOS ONE. 10 (6): e0130323. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1030323A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130323. PMC 4482662. PMID 26115179.
  16. Schattner, Elaine (April 1, 2009). "A Chip against Cancer: Microfluidics Spots Circulating Tumor Cells". Scientific American. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  17. McAlpine-Boston, Kat (April 20, 2020). "4 ways engineers aim to save lives during COVID-19". Futurity. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  18. "Professor Mehmet Toner". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  19. "2016 NAI Fellows Commemorative Book". Mar 16, 2017. p. 45. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  20. "AACR Team Science Award: Past Recipients". American Association for Cancer Research. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  21. "UA Professor Named GQ 'Rock Star of Science'". Arizona Health Sciences Center. November 19, 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  22. "Popular Mechanics Recognizes Life-Changing Innovations With the 2008 Breakthrough Awards". Popular Mechanics (Press release). 15 October 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  23. "2008 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards". Popular Mechanics. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  24. "HARVARD-MIT DIVISION OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY". MIT Reports to the President 1996-97. MIT. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
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