Edward Wilson Merrill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edward Wilson Merrill
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Edward Wilson Merrill
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| Born | August 31, 1923 New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Died | August 6, 2020 (aged 96) Belmont, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Biomaterials, Artificial Kidney, Blood Rheology |
| Awards | Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2014), National Academy of Engineering (2013), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1966), Pierre Galletti Award (AIMBE, 2010), 100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era (AIChE, 2008), Founders Award (AIChE, 2000), Founders Award (SFB, 2002), Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Research Contributions (AIChE, 1982), C.A. Stine Materials and Engineering Award (AIChE, 1993), Clemson Award for Contributions to the Biomaterials Literature, (SFB, 1990) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biomaterials, Biocompatibility, Blood Rheology, Artificial kidney, Hydrogels |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Doctoral advisor | Hermann P. Meissner (1907-1990) |
Edward Wilson Merrill (August 31, 1923 – August 6, 2020) was an American biomaterials scientist. He was one of the founders of bioengineering, and specifically the biomedical engineering field it developed from chemical engineering. Merrill was born to Edward Clifton Merrill (1881–1949), a chemical engineer and chief chemist of the United Drug Company (Rexall) and Gertrude Wilson (1895–1978).
Education and work
Merrill grew up in Boston and attended the Roxbury Latin High school. He studied classics at Harvard. As Herman P. He received a B.A. in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1944 and pursued doctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the direction of Herman P. Meissner A leading chemical engineer of the 20th century, Meissner (doctorate 1938) had been educated under Hans Joachim Schumacher (1904-1990), at the University of Frankfurt. Schumacher himself was a doctoral student of the legendary Max Bodenstein (1871-1942). presents the rich history of the connections of the Merrill/Meissner/Schumacher academic tree to the early French and German chemists of the 18th and 19th century.
Merrill received his PhD in 1947 working on theories of adhesion of two polymers (thesis on "Certain Cohesive and Adhesive Characteristics of Thermoplastic High Polymers". His work anticipated much later work of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes and others on polymer interdigitation to improve adhesion. Upon graduation he was employed by Dewey and Almy (later part of W.R. Grace) and joined MIT as an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1950. He went through the ranks and was appointed Carbon P Dubbs Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1973, a position he held until 1998. Since then, he has been Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering. He served also as Chief Scientist and Consultant in Biochemical Engineering to Harvard University Health Services, 1984–98. He was a Visiting Lecturer in Chemistry at Harvard University from 1952 to 1958, a consultant at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital of Boston from 1960 to 1972, a consultant of the Children's Hospital in Boston from 1969 to 1972, and consultant of the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston from 1969 to 1985.
Research
Over a 66-year career Professor Edward Merrill has been a pioneer in several fields of bioengineering. In the 1950s and 60s he was the leading scientist in blood rheology. In the 1960s and 1970s Merrill was a pioneer in the development of the artificial kidney, analysis of its transport characteristics and optimization of hemodialyzer membranes. In the 1960s-80s he pioneered protein/polymer interaction under stagnant and flow conditions and made exceptional contributions in the development of hydrogels as biomaterials, and in ionic or covalent heparinization techniques on polymer surfaces for antithrombogenic materials. Ed Merrill and Ed Saltzman of Harvard were the pioneers who proposed poly (ethylene oxide) as a highly biocompatible biomaterial in a seminal paper and did significant studies to analyze its stricture and blood response. In the 1990s Ed Merrill and W Harris developed irradiation crosslinked high-density polyethylene (HDPE) that has become the main material for total joint replacement.
Merrill's ideas on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a non-thrombogenic biomaterial (1979 with Saltzman) led to an explosion in the use of PEG- and PEO- decorated biomedical systems. Merrill's work on highly crosslinked polyethylene (1990s with W Harris) led to the new HDPE materials used in artificial joints now (a $4 billion industry). Merrill's pioneering work on artificial kidneys (with Colton and Britton in the 1960s) led to the development of the first NIH guidelines for artificial kidneys in the 1960s.
Major research and educational contributions
Ed Merrill's scientific contributions can be classified in five categories:
- Merrill developed the patented GDM [Gilinson-Dauwalter-Merrill] viscometer and investigated the effect of the hematocrit various plasma proteins, and white blood cells on blood viscosity and flow behavior.
- He developed new heparinized biomedical surfaces based on poly (vinyl alcohol) and hydroxylated SBS-block copolymer systems (with P. Wong)
- With P. Farrell, and C.K. Colton he developed novel hemodialysis membranes based on Cuprophane.
- He is the inventor (1973) of pioneering silicone-based contact lenses that became the basis of the oxygen-permeable technology of modern contact lenses.
- With W. Harris of MGH, he developed advanced methods of irradiation-crosslinked high-density polyethylenes that have become the standard materials in joint replacement.
Merrill is a legendary figure in the 20th century education of chemical engineers, bioengineers, polymer scientists and biomaterials scientists.
A series of rare photographs from his work at MIT during the 1950-1970 period can be found in the MIT Museum Collections.
Ed Merrill is also a pioneer in biomedical education and in the development of courses for biomedical engineering. His course 10.56 "Chemical Engineering in Medicine and Biology" was first taught at MIT's Chemical Engineering Department in January 1963. He has educated several generations of current leaders of biomedical engineering and polymer science.
In 1983, his 60th birthday was celebrated with an appropriate volume and his first academic family tree was drawn. In 1993, his 70th birthday was celebrated with an appropriate symposium and his academic tree was redrawn. In 2010, on the occasion of a special MIT event celebrating 60 years of research, he was awarded his academic family tree with all his PhD-related students and descendants. His first MS student was Bayard Storey (MS '55) who went on to study medicine and is now Professor Emeritus of Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania. His first PhD student was the legendary Allan Hoffman (PhD '57) who is now Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. His "academic tree" includes now about 3,600 scientists and engineers with PhD degrees or postdocs associated with him directly or through his academic descendants. This list includes approximately 675 professors around the world!
Merrill himself supervised 57 PhD students, 62 MS students and 12 postdoctoral fellows. Of the 57 PhDs, 17 became faculty members and 21 became CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, or VPs of companies.
At the Centennial AIChE meeting (2008) seven of his academic descendants joined him in the list of "100 Eminent Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era". Two from the first generation (Clark Colton, Nicholas A. Peppas), two from the second (Robert Langer, Buddy Ratner), and three from the third generation (Kristi Anseth, David Edwards and Cato Laurencin). Also five of the nine recipients of the Pierre Galletti Award of AIMBE, the highest bioengineering recognition in the country, are in his academic tree. And his academic descendants have received 39 AIChE awards!
An impressive number of descendants of this academic tree are members of the major Academies. They include:
- Twenty one NAE members (Allan Hoffman, Nicholas A. Peppas, David A. Tirrell, Robert Langer, Tony Mikos, Elazer Edelman, David Edwards, Cato Laurencin, Linda Griffith, Yosi Kost, Howard Rosen, Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Kristi Anseth, Richard Korsmeyer, David Mooney, Kam W. Leong, Buddy Ratner, Peter Farrell, Howard Bernstein. John Klier, Samir Mitragotri).
- Thirteen IOM members (Nicholas A. Peppas, David A. Tirrell, Robert Langer, Elazer Edelman, Cato Laurencin, Tony Mikos, Kristi Anseth, Marsha Moses, David Mooney, Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Mark Saltzman, Elliot Chaikof, Mike Sefton),
- Three NAS members (Robert Langer, David A. Tirrell, Kristi Anseth)
- One member of the Royal Society (Mike Sefton)
Ed Merrill, along with Paul Rempp, is coauthor of the 1992 classic Polymer Synthesis. He is the author of 350 publications and about 70 patents, the most recent of which was issued Molecular Weight Polyethylene Prosthetic Devices.
Awards and honors
Edward Merrill has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers has bestowed upon him the Founders Award (2000), the Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Research Contributions (1982) and the C.M.A. Stine Materials Science and Engineering Award (1993). In 2008 and on the occasion of the Centennial of AIChE, Merrill was named one of the "100 Eminent Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era".
The Society for Biomaterials (SFB) bestowed upon him the Founders Award (2002) and the Clemson Award for Contributions to the Biomaterials Literature (1990).
The American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) awarded him the 2010 Pierre Galetti Award, the highest recognition in the bioengineering field.
Ed Merrill has been the recipient of numerous teaching and mentorship awards. He received the M.I.T. Department of Chemical Engineering Outstanding Faculty Award (teaching and research) in 1972, 1989 and 1992.
Merrill served in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston as Consultant to the Conservator, Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, 1988-. He has also served as Vice President of the Boston-Strasbourg Sister City Association, Director of the Alliance Francaise of Boston-Cambridge, and Honorary Trustee of the Buckingham Browne and Nicholas School.
