Bioengineering pioneer Colin Caro at 90

At the age of 90, serial medical innovator Emeritus Professor Colin Caro remains active in research and teaching after 50 years at Imperial.

Multidisciplinary collaboration is a hot topic in academia and research at the moment – but it has been a focus of Emeritus Professor Colin Caro for more than 50 years.

Born in South Africa, he completed his medical training at Edinburgh and London. Yet he always harboured an interest in engineering and was able to combine these twin passion upon joining Imperial in 1966 as Founder and Director of Physiological Flow Studies Unit.

It was there he carried out his pioneering research into the mechanics of blood flow in arteries – using this newfound knowledge to design medical devices such stents that are much safer, more effective and durable.  

His patented BioMimics 3D Stent System recently completed a two year randomised controlled trial in human patients – showing significantly improved outcomes.

In the video above Professor Caro talks about his passion for engineering and medicine, developing medical technologies and the key to academic longevity.