Clark Colton, PhD

Clark Colton, PhD, is a professor of chemical engineering at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working in biomedical and biochemical engineering and mass transfer; he earned his PhD there. His laboratory established that the outer surface of islets must see at least 50 mm Hg of oxygen to remain viable and secrete insulin normally. That finding is central to keeping transplanted islets alive in type 1 diabetes. Working with Beta-O2 Technologies, he was senior author of a 2018 Scientific Reports study of an implantable device that supplies encapsulated islets with their own oxygen. The device's chamber is replenished every 24 hours; in rats that kept normal blood glucose, nearly 90 percent of the islets stayed viable for months. His awards include the Allan P. Colburn Award and the Curtis W. McGraw Research Award.

Affiliation

Professor of Chemical Engineering, MIT

Location

Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.