HIGHLIGHTS IN BME

Duke Develops Nano-Scale Drug Delivery for Chemotherapy
DURHAM, N.C. -- Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting drugs. Duke University bioengineers have developed a simple and inexpensive method for loading cancer drug payloads into nano-scale delivery vehicles and demonstrated in animal models that this new nanoformulation can eliminate tumors after a single treatment. After delivering the drug to the...
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HIGHLIGHTS IN BME

Secrets from High-Tech Poking
Physicians use hi-tech scanners all the time to produce crisp and detailed images to help them diagnose illness. But they may not be getting the whole picture.CT or MRI scanners are unable to provide potentially important clues about a tissue’s health – namely, how it feels. Duke University biomedical engineers believe information about the stiffness of particular tissue – such as organs or...
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HIGHLIGHTS IN BME

Genetically Editing Out Human Disease
Many of the world’s most devastating diseases – such as hemophilia, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy – are the result of a single gene defect, or mutation. If the Encyclopedia Britannica represented the human genome, such diseases would be analogous to one typographical error rendering the massive tome unreadable. The daunting task then is to find and fix the typo to make the encyclopedia...
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HIGHLIGHTS IN BME

Gersbach Earns Prestigious Hartwell Award
Charles A. Gersbach, PhD, a researcher in the Pratt School of Engineering’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been selected to receive a Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Research Award for his work to correct faulty genes that cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).He will receive support of $100,000 per year for three years. Gersbach is one of only 10 individuals from different...
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HIGHLIGHTS IN BME

A Change in Plans
By Lyndsey MorganAdvice to Duke Students from Pratt alumnus Herbie Bohnet: Work hard, have fun.  This is apropos advice coming from Bohnet, who graduated in 2000 with a double major in biomedical and mechanical engineering. A major highlight of his college career was watching the goalposts travel up Chapel Drive after a winning football game.Like most engineering students, when Bohnet was at...
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Welcome to Duke BME

Consistently ranked as one of the top biomedical engineering programs in the nation, Duke BME combines a hands-on educational experience and an interdisciplinary research environment that prepares graduates to be leaders in integrating engineering and biology to detect and treat human diseases.

A unique aspect of the program is the integration of research and education. Over two-thirds of the undergraduates are involved in independent study research. The doctoral program offers students early immersion into research. Due to the proximity of the Medical School and Health System, collaborative projects provide opportunities for students to do research with Medical School faculty. BME faculty are actively involved in various Centers and Institutes throughout the University, providing a very rich research and educational environment. The Coulter Translational Research Fund provides support for promising research that has the potential to address an unmet clinical need.  

Current departmental research activities include biomechanics of cells and hard and soft tissues; injury biomechanics; biomolecular and tissue engineering; electrical activity of the heart; neural engineering; biomedical optics, biophotonics and ultrasound imaging systems.