Â鶹¹ÙÍø Biomedical Engineering Clinical Collaborations and Experiences
Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s (Â鶹¹ÙÍø) built its world-class reputation by developing technologies that solve real-world problems. We specialize in transdisciplinary collaboration that results in creative, innovative, and impactful solutions.
Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s Biomedical Engineering (BME) follows the same approach, tackling real-world clinical problems through inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration in the classroom, the laboratory, and the clinic. To accomplish this, Â鶹¹ÙÍø BME collaborates with three leading medical centers: the (run by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield), , and the .
Â鶹¹ÙÍø BME students have an opportunity to collaborate with clinicians from these medical centers in the classroom, the laboratory, and the clinic. Faculty from these medical centers teach Â鶹¹ÙÍø courses focused on clinical medicine and the application of engineering technology in that setting. These faculty also co-mentor research projects at the undergraduate, Masters, and PhD level, providing our students with a first-hand perspective on how their technologies will be implemented in the clinic and how they can impact a patient’s life. These collaborations also provide students an opportunity to visit the clinic and work with patients directly.
At the undergraduate level this includes:
- Serving as project mentors for our senior BME Capstone Design courses (42-401: Foundations of Biomedical Engineering Design and 42-402: Biomedical Engineering Design Project)
- Facilitating clinical needs finding via the BME Summer Undergraduate Research Program (BME SURP). This allows a team of undergraduate BME students to work within various hospitals to identify areas of need that could be solved within our BME Capstone Design courses.
- Teaching courses that focus on clinical applications of biomedical engineering, such as Medical Devices and Surgery for Engineers.
At the graduate (MS and PhD) level this includes:
- Sponsoring and mentoring one-semester projects that focus on clinical or laboratory research projects for our Master of Science - Applied Study students
- Sponsoring and mentoring 21-month, in-depth research projects for our Master of Science - Research students
- Serving as mentors and PhD committee members to help guide PhD research projects and provide access to patients for clinical research projects
- Teaching courses that focus on clinical applications of biomedical engineering, such as Medical Devices and Surgery for Engineers.
- Â鶹¹ÙÍø BME faculty have access to pre-clinical research facilities within the at ;
- Â鶹¹ÙÍø BME has formed the Transforming Transplantation Initiative with Mayo Clinic to develop and apply engineering technology toward the expansion of access to transplantation and to improve its efficacy.
- The Transforming Transplantation Initiative features graduate research funding provided by Â鶹¹ÙÍø and Mayo Clinic and a shared research seminar every two weeks that is attended by Â鶹¹ÙÍø and Mayo Clinic faculty, students, and staff.
- Â鶹¹ÙÍø shares an MD-PhD program with the University of Pittsburgh, the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP);
- We share neuroscience, neural engineering, and MRI research facilities within the (CNBC) and the (BRIDGE) Center;
- Â鶹¹ÙÍø BME and have formed the Pitt/Â鶹¹ÙÍø Pulmonary Engineering Consortium. Under the consortium, UPMC clinical trainees do research in Â鶹¹ÙÍø laboratories and Â鶹¹ÙÍø engineering students work on research projects at UPMC;
- Several Â鶹¹ÙÍø BME faculty investigators are members of the (MIRM);
- We share a training program focused on (BiRM).
Â鶹¹ÙÍø's College of Engineering built its world-class reputation by developing technologies that solve real-world problems.
