Bioengineer Jonathan S. Dordick was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), on April 12th, at the proposal of Joaquim Sampaio Cabral, a professor at Técnico who became an Emeritus Professor of ULisboa on the same day. Joaquim Sampaio Cabral described Dordick as a “long-time friend”, highlighting a remarkable career that included the creation of several companies, the publication of around 430 papers and the supervision of 70 PhD students. This is the first Honoris Causa to be awarded at the proposal of a member of the Department of Bioengineering.

In an interview the day before the ceremony, Jonathan Dordick detailed his journey and relationship with Técnico, focussing on the origins of his passion for bioengineering and describing his involvement in the quest for non-animal heparin, an essential drug in a hospital setting, but which, to date, has been obtained primarily from pig intestines. Synthetic heparin will become less likely to be contaminated and will follow a similar path to that of insulin, which was previously extracted from pigs and is now produced entirely in a laboratory.

How would you summarise your career?

Jonathan Dordick (JD) – I suppose I would describe it as a ‘fairly diverse path through biotechnology’. I started out working in areas related to biocatalysis – and still do – but that was in the first half of my career. Then I focused on issues more related to biomedical applications. In particular, on cell culture engineering. I moved on to optimising biomanufacturing processes and how to miniaturise these processes. This approach has already led to advances in the area of drug discovery and analysis – we’ve set up a few companies in these fields.

We have also identified new types of enzymes that could have pharmaceutical uses. For example, we have developed enzymes that are very useful for eliminating specific bacteria. They could be very useful for human health because we’re killing the target bacteria, but not what’s around it. This is important because the overuse of antibiotics leads to the creation of resistant bacteria, and what we’re using here is more similar to what “Nature uses” to kill invading organisms – just as each bacteriophage attacks a specific type of bacteria.

What first got you interested in science?

JD – I’ve always been interested in science. It’s always been my favourite subject. I went to university and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I even thought that maybe I should become a doctor, but the idea of having to see patients didn’t really excite me [laughs]. I remember one day going to my advisor’s office and telling him that I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but that I wanted something more quantitative. I was studying biochemistry at the time and he said to me “well, maybe you should go into biochemical engineering”, which I’d never heard of. I decided to apply to MIT and I got in to study Biochemical Engineering.

What would you highlight in your career?

JD – I think the most important thing is to have supervised around 70 PhD students. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing because then they create their own careers, whether in academia, industry… I already have “academic grandchildren” developing their careers. I’ve also published quite a few articles – around 440 – and, of course, my students have also published theirs. I’ve set up six companies, all in the biotechnology field, and that’s an interesting point because you develop new technologies that lead to new ways of creating drugs using biological systems.

And what about developing new methods for drug discovery…

JD – Recently, we’ve been focusing on the production of heparin, an anticoagulant used in surgery and in the treatment of many diseases. The problem is that it is extracted from the intestines of animals, especially pigs. Every year, heparin is extracted from one billion pigs (which are often used for food at the same time – the two processes don’t prevent each other). However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to separate the food and pharmaceutical chains. Another problem is contamination with substances that look like heparin but are not. This has caused huge problems in the supply of this drug, which is on the [World Health Organisation’s] list of most important medicines. Without heparin, we can’t do many things – dialysis, heart surgery… so we wanted to find a way to bio-manufacture heparin and we have developed it. It’s currently awaiting FDA approval. We aim to do something very similar to what happened with insulin, which was previously also extracted from pigs.

How did you meet Joaquim Sampaio Cabral?

JD – I was studying at MIT and he was a post-doc at the time. We were part of the so-called ‘Biochemical Engineering and Applied Microbiology Group’. In the meantime, Professor Sampaio Cabral moved here [i.e. to Técnico], but he has visited me a few times and I have made many more visits to Lisbon. In some cases, I came for meetings, and in others for student exchanges and doctoral programmes. We’ve kept in touch since the mid-80s.

What does receiving this Honoris Causa degree mean to you?

JD – This type of degree is not very common, so it represents a great honour. It is awarded to us because of the work we do and it recognises not only me but also everyone who has worked with me, including this long-standing relationship with Técnico. It has a ‘very sweet flavour’ because I’ve been here many times and met many people.

What would you say to students in this field?

JD – The most important thing is to follow what we’re most passionate about. We often pursue what will get us funding because we have to – we can’t work without it, right? However, at the same time, always look for opportunities to do exciting things. Use funding as a ‘launch pad’ for other things that stimulate you. Sometimes the two things happen at the same time – we get funding in an area that really interest us, but it doesn’t always happen. Make sure you follow your passions because if you do, even if there are ups and downs, you’ll always be motivated.