The Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Michigan State University consists of 21 core faculty and over 15 adjunct faculty with interdisciplinary interests ranging from bioinformatics to nano-robotics to neural engineering to molecular imaging. The department is growing rapidly and is located in a new 130,000 square-foot facility outfitted with state-of-the-art research tools and infrastructure. Our department is closely aligned with MSU’s new Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering. Research and training opportunities are available through multiple new initiatives including investment in novel imaging systems, new partnerships with healthcare organizations McLaren Health and Henry Ford Health, and the MSU Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), allowing for exploration of rare isotopes in medical diagnostics and treatment.
BME is committed to engineering solutions to reduce the pain and suffering from health related challenges in our world. To highlight some of our talented faculty, research staff, and students, Prof. Aitor Aguirre’s lab studies regenerative biology and cell reprogramming. Through NIH and American Heart Association funding, they have developed an in vitro heart organoid model with morphologic and cell-type complexity similar to fetal hearts to provide a novel platform for the study of congenital heart defects. Prof. Erin Purcell works with neural prostheses, studying how implanted electrodes interact with neural circuitry to better understand brain function and behavior. This work, through NIH and NSF funding, is driving towards devices for early detection and treatment of neurological diseases and injuries. Prof. Sudin Bhattacharya is applying computational tools to study fundamental problems in toxicology. Their work aims to understand the signaling and transcriptional regulatory networks that underlie the determination of cell fate and the impact of environmental and toxic factors on these networks. Please explore the profiles of our faculty to learn about the impactful research in BME. For additional details, review our the BME Program Booklet.
