A dozen teens snake through the circuitous hallways of a hospital in the massive Texas Medical Center. At the head of the line is a prominent cardiovascular surgeon, leading the group to their next lecture. They wind through the corridors, turn by turn, and file through the lab door. The group is composed of local high school students from an advanced anatomy class, and they鈥檙e at the medical center for a long-awaited field trip. They鈥檙e all seniors鈥攁ll but one.
The lone sophomore in the group had pleaded to get into this class. He was clearly capable, but the teacher had hesitated because of his age. Undaunted, talked his way in. He wouldn鈥檛 take no for an answer because he had a plan. He was going to be a physician. He鈥檇 known this for years. Particularly talented at math and science, it was an ideal career path to channel his interests.
Bettinger鈥檚 father holds a PhD in microbiology, his mother, an MS in biology, so his interests came naturally. He enjoyed tinkering with household items like his mother鈥檚 old radio and his older brothers鈥� discarded car stereos. 鈥淚t was almost like Legos鈥攈ere鈥檚 a transistor, here鈥檚 a vacuum tube. I took stuff apart all the time. If you get immersed in the fields of science or engineering, it鈥檚 just normal.鈥�
The Bettinger鈥檚 youngest child was the last of three boys, born five years after his middle brother. His parents found him personable, easygoing, and modest by nature, as well as quietly determined and shockingly organized. Playing catch-up to his siblings only spurred the youngster to work harder. 鈥淗e would say, 鈥榃ell, between studying English and math, I鈥檝e allotted a few minutes for a break.鈥� This was in the fourth grade!鈥� recalls his father, George. Still, the plan Bettinger concocted for his high school education surprised them all.
When he was entering sixth grade, the family settled in Lake Jackson, Texas. They had barely unpacked when the 12-year-old picked up the local newspaper. His eyes latched onto an article featuring a recent graduate of the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science. It was a selective boarding program allowing high school juniors to complete their secondary schooling at the University of North Texas, earning at least a year of college credit. The program was 280 miles away. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楳om, that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 going to do,鈥欌�� recalls his mother, Anne, who hoped it would be a passing whim, so she and her husband wouldn鈥檛 become empty nesters too soon. But by Bettinger鈥檚 sophomore year of high school his plan hadn鈥檛 wavered, and he and his mom were wading through the application process.
The advanced anatomy class at his local school fit right into his plans. Bettinger was easily handling the assignments, and he had looked forward to their spring field trip to the world-class medical complex. He particularly enjoyed the surgeon鈥檚 earlier lecture that day in the conference room. He loved the plastic organ models, all the mechanical 鈥淟ego鈥� parts that he loved to piece together. 鈥淥h, that鈥檚 cool.鈥� There were the valves in the heart model, just like they鈥檇 learned in class. 鈥淔antastic.鈥� He was excited for the rest of the tour. The real thing should prove even more fascinating.
Entering the cadaver lab for the next demonstration, Bettinger is immediately struck by the smell. It鈥檚 overwhelming. The suffocating odor of formaldehyde permeates the eerie room. Everything seems to be made of stainless steel鈥攅xcept for the subject on the table. Bettinger can鈥檛 take his eyes off the pale, lifeless body on the metal slab. It has been cut into pieces by what must have been a parade of medical students. The surgeon scoops the cadaver鈥檚 heart out of its chest and begins to mimic what he just showed the students in plastic. He鈥檚 just getting started, but Bettinger has seen enough. He flees the lab, grabs a bench in the hallway, and passes out. His shocked teacher races out to help him. She remembers the incident to this day. So does Bettinger. 鈥淭hat was the end of my medical career.鈥�
It means an adjustment in the plan, but to Bettinger, it鈥檚 just 鈥渁 banked turn.鈥� He loves science, loves mechanical things. So he won鈥檛 save humanity as a physician. No problem鈥攈e鈥檒l create the next medical miracle as a . Bettinger soon learns he has been accepted to the Texas Academy and heads off toward Dallas in the fall. He鈥檚 just 16. He finishes at the top of his class and moves on to MIT to begin undergraduate study, starting as a sophomore. He enrolls as a chemical engineer, a seemingly strange choice, but it鈥檚 all part of the plan. After months of discussion with his father鈥攖he elder resorting to data-based arguments鈥擝ettinger concedes. In 1999, biomedical engineering was still a fledgling academic discipline. A more fundamental degree would provide the best career foundation.
During his undergraduate years in chemical engineering, he develops a fascination for polymers, a type of molecule with repeating structural units, generally plastics. He also takes off a semester to work for and learn about microfabrication, the construction of miniaturized structures. After graduation, basics behind him, he moves and starts to work on his MS degree in biomedical engineering and PhD in materials science, purposely 鈥減ing-ponging鈥� between fields to soak up more specialized knowledge through a variety of 鈥渄ifferent lenses.鈥� Through it all, he remains focused on creating and working with polymers.
鈥淚 always liked making things,鈥� explains Bettinger. 鈥淚 look at polymers as this large sandbox. It鈥檚 the diversity of properties you can achieve, the neat things you can do with them, things like shape memory and twisting. I鈥檓 still building things, but on a micro scale.鈥�
Bettinger鈥檚 graduate research involves creating 鈥渂iodegradable scaffolding materials for human tissue engineering.鈥� Currently, the best method for replacing a person鈥檚 damaged tissue or organ is a graft from a donor鈥攍iving, cadaver, or even animal. Problems include availability, disease, and compatibility. Tissue engineering, Bettinger鈥檚 chosen field, involves the lab creation of biological tissue substitutes that rely on scaffolds, which work much the same way as construction scaffolds, providing supportive structure for growing tissue. Once scaffolds serve their purpose, their biodegradability allows them to dissolve within the body with no need for removal.
Bettinger鈥檚 scaffold work combines biomedical engineering with micro-scale fabrication. Because of this, he collaborates with both academic faculty and staff at , a non-profit with expertise in microfabrication. As a funded Draper Fellow, he has an advisor both at MIT and at the lab. One day, his Draper advisor, , calls an informal meeting. Funding proposals are due, and he鈥檇 like to air potential ideas. There are a number of projects going on in two primary areas. Bettinger鈥檚 area involves biodegradable polymers鈥攕oft-tissue replacements that can degrade at specified intervals. Another area involves hard silicon chips that can be implanted in the body and controlled electronically.
Four researchers gather around the conference table: Bettinger, Borenstein, and two other staff members. Project ideas bounce around the room. Says Bettinger, 鈥淲e had this soft-materials world, which I was working on, with a certain set of properties but nothing else. Then we had this silicon world with all these interesting capabilities but no biodegradability. We had these completely disconnected proposals. I remember thinking, 鈥楾his is terrible, just different things smashed together. How do we merge them?鈥欌��
As ideas ricochet, something comes into focus for Bettinger. Why not use the biodegradable devices, the mechanical support structures for tissue growth, and turn them into smart, electronic mechanisms? Into dissolvable devices that can sense things and use logic and processing? 鈥淟ike computer chips that can perform a function and then disappear,鈥� he suggests.
The possibilities are staggering. Such devices could be implanted in the body, be electronically controlled to dispense medication, and then just dissolve away. Or perhaps they could be implanted as sensors to monitor wound healing, then disappear, eliminating the need for removal with invasive surgery.
Bettinger鈥檚 excitement is tempered with caution. He鈥檚 considered many ideas throughout the years. The hard part is determining their potential viability. He and Borenstein schedule a meeting with Bettinger鈥檚 academic advisor, Robert Langer, to discuss the new concept. A few weeks later, Bettinger and Borenstein enter the campus building and head to Langer鈥檚 third-floor office. They walk in and sit at the conference table, waiting for Langer to appear.
Langer is a renowned scientist, widely acclaimed as a tissue-engineering pioneer. Needless to say, he鈥檚 an exceptionally busy man, but he doesn鈥檛 keep them waiting for long. He bursts in, no doubt coming from another important meeting, but he makes time for Bettinger and Borenstein because he always says he鈥檚 on the lookout for the next innovation in medical technology. Bettinger begins to tell Langer what he has in mind. Before long, Langer stands and begins to pace. He starts to throw out possible uses as his mind whirs鈥攄rug delivery, smart monitoring, and more. 鈥淭his was definitely a big moment,鈥� recalls Borenstein.
It鈥檚 also the beginning of Bettinger鈥檚 revised plan. He earns his PhD while the team moves forward with a patent on the biodegradable electronics concept. All they need now is the additional knowledge necessary to make the concept a reality. Bettinger secures a post-doc appointment at Stanford to learn more about polymer electronics. The end result is a breakthrough. He creates polymers that are partially biodegradable, yet functional as transistors, even after exposure to water. 鈥淐hris was the one who made it happen. He actually went in the lab and figured out how to make this work,鈥� says Borenstein. It鈥檚 a critical first step, and though significant research lies ahead before potential product development, progress is real.
Borenstein isn鈥檛 surprised. He knows that his young colleague has an ability to 鈥渮ero in鈥� on goals, advancing innovation while many of his peers are just getting started. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a rare combination,鈥� says Borenstein. 鈥淰ery easy to get along with, yet also very focused. He gets difficult tasks done faster than anyone I know鈥攖he opposite of that little kid in the 鈥楩amily Circle鈥� cartoon with dashed lines running all over the neighborhood. There鈥檚 no wasted energy. He鈥檚 like a laser.鈥�
Bettinger believes that for his research to reach its full potential, he needs a place where there鈥檚 no chance he鈥檒l be pigeonholed, where his ideas will not be confined by boundaries. For that reason, he accepts a faculty appointment at Carnegie Mellon. 鈥溌槎勾� is really the only place that this could work. We have these new ideas, it鈥檚 very interdisciplinary. As opposed to a traditional university with discrete empires patched together like a quilt, this is more like an interconnected web, a network of excellent investigators. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here.鈥�
Bettinger now has his own lab and his own multidisciplinary graduate students hard at work 鈥渁t the interface of biomaterials, organic electronics, and microfabrication.鈥� In particular, he鈥檚 striving to advance the soft, biodegradable materials themselves while he continues to research the electronics. He鈥檚 typically optimistic about the myriad of potential uses for the polymers he鈥檚 termed 鈥渁daptive medical devices.鈥� Consider a not-too-distant future where a cancer patient could be implanted with a biodegradable, miniature pharmacy. The device could be timed to leak scheduled chemotherapy treatments and then simply disappear when therapy is complete. And with added electronic capability, who knows? A physician may implant diabetic patients with a device triggered from outside the body, ready to deliver insulin just when needed. With its supply exhausted, it could just dissolve away.
The scientific community has taken note of Bettinger鈥檚 pioneering research, which he hopes will have tangible results within five to ten years. In fact, for his 鈥渢ransformative鈥� work, Technology Review Magazine recently selected Bettinger, now 30, as one of the world鈥檚 35 top innovators under the age of 35. And, on April 30, at the 149th NAS annual meeting in Washington, D.C., he will receive the NAS Award for Initiatives in Research for his next-generation implanted medical devices.
Melissa Silmore (TPR鈥�85) is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to this magazine.
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