Mehmet Toner (born 1958) is a Turkish

biomedical engineer Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

. He is currently the Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, with a joint appointment as professor at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). 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 The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

's BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems or BioMEMS Resource Center at MGH. Toner has made contributions to the fields of

cryobiology Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science. The word cryobiology is derived from the Greek words κρῧος ryos "cold", βίος ios "life", and λό ...

and

biopreservation Biopreservation is the use of natural or controlled microbiota or antimicrobials as a way of preserving food and extending its shelf life. The biopreservation of food, especially utilizing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that are inhibitory to food ...

and to the wider field of

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

. He has developed techniques in microtechnology and nanotechnology for use in clinical medicine, including the treatment of cancer. He has been elected to the

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington. It represents 50,000 medical and biomedical engineers, and academic institutions, private industry, ...

(AIMBE), the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 2010. ...

(NAI), the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

(NAE) and the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...

Early life and education

Toner was born in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in 1958. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

at the

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical universit ...

in 1983, and his master's degree in mechanical engineering at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

in 1985. Next Toner studied medical engineering with Ernest G. Cravalho at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), completing his Ph.D. in 1989. He completed postdoctoral work under Martin Yarmush and Ronald G. Tompkins at MGH.

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. 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 The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS) Resource Center at MGH. In 1999, Toner helped to found the '' Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering'', serving as associate editor. As of 2021, Toner became co-editor of the ''Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering'', sharing the position with Martin L. Yarmush.

Research

Toner's early work focused on understanding cellular injuries during

cryopreservation Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where organisms, organelles, cells, tissues, extracellular matrix, organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage caused by unregulated chemical kinetics are preserved by co ...

and finding optimum strategies for cell preservation. 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 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). As part of that work he proposed

acetylated : In organic chemistry, acetylation is an organic esterification reaction with acetic acid. It introduces an acetyl group into a chemical compound. Such compounds are termed ''acetate esters'' or simply ''acetates''. Deacetylation is the opposit ...

trehalose Trehalose (from Turkish '' tıgala'' – a sugar derived from insect cocoons + -ose) is a sugar consisting of two molecules of glucose. It is also known as mycose or tremalose. Some bacteria, fungi, plants and invertebrate animals synthesize it ...

as a novel

cryoprotectant A cryoprotectant is a substance used to protect biological tissue from freezing damage (i.e. that due to ice formation). Arctic and Antarctic insects, fish and amphibians create cryoprotectants ( antifreeze compounds and antifreeze proteins) in ...

. Toner's later work includes bio-sensing, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. He has helped to develop microelectromechanical and

microfluidic Microfluidics refers to the behavior, precise control, and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small scale (typically sub-millimeter) at which surface forces dominate volumetric forces. It is a multidisciplinary field tha ...

devices for point-of-care detection of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, AIDS, genetic defects and infectious diseases. He has received awards for the development of the CTC-chip, a microchip which can isolate and detect circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Toner worked with scientists at several institutions to develop a fast, reliable test for SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Awards

* 2019, Member, US

(NAM) * 2017, Member, US

(NAE) * 2016, Fellow, US

(NAI) * 2010, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Thoracic Oncology Research Team Award, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) * 2010, Rock Stars of Science,

GQ Magazine ''GQ'' (formerly ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and ''Apparel Arts'') is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles o ...

and Geoffrey Beene Foundation * 2008, Breakthrough Award, ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

” * 1999, Fellow,

(AIMBE) * 1997, John F and Virginia B Taplin Faculty Fellow Award Faculty Fellow Award, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology * 1995,

Whitaker Foundation The Whitaker Foundation was based in Arlington, Virginia and was an organization that primarily supported biomedical engineering education and research, but also supported other forms of medical research. It was founded and funded by U. A. Whitake ...

Special Opportunity Award * 1994, Y. C. Fung Faculty Award in Bioengineering, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) (intra-cellular ice formation)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toner, Mehmet Turkish molecular biologists Turkish academics Turkish bioengineers 1958 births Living people Engineers from Istanbul Istanbul Technical University alumni Harvard Medical School faculty MIT School of Engineering alumni Turkish emigrants to the United States Turkish mechanical engineers American academics of Turkish descent Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Members of the National Academy of Medicine