Nicholas Peppas delivered the Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture during the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) 2016 Annual Meeting on October 6 in Minneapolis, Minn.

During the lecture, Peppas made it clear, being a biomedical engineering researcher is a great occupation.

“We are all so proud to be biomedical engineers,” Peppas said. “Our first goal in life is to help patients.”

For Peppas, reading about the first human heart transplant in 1967 ignited his lifelong passion for research and helping patients.

When talking about the constant shots a young patient needs to treat his hemophilia, Peppas challenged young researchers to fix the problem.

“I submit to you, try and come up with a better solution,” he said.

Peppas is the Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering #6, professor of biomedical engineering, chemical engineering and pharmacy, and the director of the Institute for Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine at The University of Texas at Austin.