Reconstructing the Path of a Seizure
New algorithm better identifies the origin of a seizure to guide more precise surgical interventions
Signature Research Topics
Translating fundamental advances into improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of disease
Revolutionizing Clinical Impact
The department’s proximity to Duke University Medical Center has fostered a highly interdisciplinary approach. Duke BME engineers work closely with Duke’s biological scientists and physicians.
Our undergraduate and graduate students conduct research with the guidance of Duke BME faculty researchers—a community of innovators that includes many winners of prestigious scientific awards.
In one of the clearest hallmarks of faculty excellence, sponsored research at Duke BME has grown more than 60 percent over the last five years.
Major Research Programs
Bioelectric Engineering
Spanning a range of length scales from the ion-channel to the organ level, with a focus on development of realistic models of cardiac muscle
Biomaterials
Including the molecular design of soft materials, nanomaterials, immune-active materials and scaffolds for tissue engineering
Biomechanics and Mechanobiology
Focusing on mechanics at and across the molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels
Biomedical and Health Data Sciences
Developing innovative data science, machine learning, and digital health modeling approaches to transform multi-scale biomedical data into actionable insights
Biomedical Imaging and Biophotonics
Advancing the physics and mathematical theory of imaging, image acquisition and image processing, hardware design and clinical applications
Biosensors and Bioinstrumentation
Utilizing recent advances in biochemistry, electronics, omics and physiology to develop novel diagnostic, therapeutic and prosthetic devices
Computational Modeling of Biological Systems
Using modeling, simulation, high-performance computing and data analysis to create testable hypotheses about mechanisms driving complex biological functions
Drug and Gene Delivery
Understanding and developing new strategies aimed at therapies for cancer, infectious and cardiovascular disease, muscle disease, and gastrointestinal disease
Immune Engineering
Designing novel vaccines and technologies for tissue engineering and treatment of wounds, chronic inflammation and cancer
Neural Engineering
Developing new tools and methods to enable fundamental research on the nervous system, as well as treatments for neurological disorders
Synthetic and Systems Biology
Including development of new strategies for regenerative medicine, treatment of genetic disease and techniques to establish robust gene circuit function
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Investigating technologies from biomaterial/cell constructs for repairing various tissues and organs, to stem cell therapies, to immune therapies
Latest Research News
Ramanujam Receives $10.4 Million to Improve Existing Treatments for Breast Cancer
With the support from the Department of Defense’s 2024 Innovator Award, Nimmi Ramanujam and an interdisciplinary team of researchers aim to improve the detection and treatment of early-stage breast cancer
Duke Experts Discuss the Potential of AI to Help Prevent, Detect and Treat Disease
Scientific presentations were just one portion of the Duke Summit on AI for Health Innovation