Boston University’s Biomedical Engineering program will be adding new research programs and a new computer lab after being awarded a $14 million grant, according to department chair Kenneth Lutchen.
The five-year grant, which has only been given to two other schools, was presented to BU this past September by the Whitaker Foundation, a national biomedical charity.
Lutchen said two new professors were hired by the department because of the grant. Tejal Desai and Joe Tien will be teaching courses in molecular bioengineering, cell and tissue engineering and biological microsystems.
Desai will also be involved in researching new medical systems and a microencapsulated drug delivery system, Lutchen said. Ideally, this delivery system will be used for the transport of medicine pumps and other drugs patients use daily. The system would be more scientific, and therefore more precise, than the current method.
Tien is setting up a research program to find a better way to test medications without using animals. This system would use microlithography, a science by which cells can be better controlled, and could possibly reduce the amount of animal testing being done, as well as speed up the process by which medicine is produced.
“Mice are not a good model for the human body,” Tien said. “What we’re trying to do is create a dish that will better represent the way a medication affects a human.”
Since Sept. 11, the only problem the biomedical program has faced in regards to the grant money was recruiting new staff, Lutchen said.
“People had to get their lives together, and relocating became difficult,” he said.
However, the department was still able to recruit staff to run the new Biomedical Engineering Computing Center, Lutchen said. Both the staff and center were paid for by the grant money.
The computing center will be equipped with 20 computer work stations and will aid in teaching students cause and effect in the biomedical field as well as assist in their understanding of the impact of biological therapies, Lutchen said.
ENG freshman Neil Patel said the computing center will greatly benefit the students.
“It’s a wonderful advantage to have it so conveniently located on campus instead of having to go to a hospital,” he said. “By the time I graduate, BU’s BioMedical department will be equipped with some of the most advanced technology in the field.”
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