Cornell Stories: Life Sciences
Biomedical Engineering and Weill collaborate from bench to bedside.
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), which will reside in the Life Sciences Technology Building when it opens in 2008, is not the only department actively collaborating with clinicians at Weill Cornell Medical College.
However, the department’s emphasis on translational research--“bench to bedside” application--naturally creates the most interaction. Every BME faculty member has at least one joint research project with Weill Cornell faculty, and some have as many as five cross-campus projects.
A direct correlation also exists between medical school rankings and strong biomedical engineering programs. With only one exception, the top 10 medical schools are associated with BME departments that rank in the top 12. Here are just a few of the translational research projects that are strengthening Cornell’s impact on human health:
- More Effective Surgery
Chris Schaffer (BME) and Ted Schwartz (Weill Cornell) are developing a laser scalpel that can make incisions beneath the surface of the brain without cutting the tissue above it, for treating conditions like epilepsy. The cut size is less than the diameter of a single cell. - Drug Delivery and Microtechnology
Michael Shuler (BME), David Putnam (BME), and Susan Pannullo (Weill Cornell) are working on a new drug delivery system for treatment of malignant brain tumors called gliomas. They are developing polymers capable of delivering chemotherapy to the tumor site.
- Understanding Disease Mechanisms
Claudia Fischbach-Teschl (BME) and John A. Boockvar (Weill Cornell) are using tissue engineering strategies to recreate the microenvironmental conditions of the cancer stem cell niche and to investigate brain tumor formation as a function of stem cell activation.
- Replacement Parts
Larry Bonassar (BME) and Weill Cornell faculty Suzanne Maher, Tim Wright, Hollis Potter, and Russ Warren are developing implants for joint cartilage repair by engineering tissue that is specially tailored to a patient’s anatomy. They are also working to generate tissue from human cells.
- Imaging
Yi Wang (BME and Weill Cornell) is using funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop research programs with radiologists, cardiologists, and vascular surgeons for advanced cardiovascular MRI technology and its evaluation in patients. He is teaming with nanobiotechnology faculty and neurological surgeons to develop noninvasive imaging techniques for monitoring cell therapy.