Admissions M.D./Ph.D.

Students must first be accepted into the M.D./Ph.D. Program at the University of Pittburgh Medical Center.

Bioengineering research at the University of Pittsburgh incorporates the application of engineering and biologic principles, methods, and technology in two broad areas: scientific inquires into fundamental biological phenomena; development of instrumentation, materials, devices, and systems relative to application in the biological sciences and medicine. Active, externally funded areas of research include: computer processing of biologically derived signals; computer analysis of radiographic, ultrasonic, and nuclear magnetic resonance images; development of prostheses, artificial organs, and implantable sensors; development of medically related instrumentation; mathematical modeling of physiological systems; tissue engineering and regenerative medicine; molecular modeling including cell migration; biomaterials and biocompatibility; musculoskeletal biomechanics and sports medicine; cardiovascular biomechanics; and, rehabilitation biomechanics. The Department of Bioengineering has a 30 year unique relationship with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and other academic departments at the University of Pittsburgh as well as neighboring Carnegie Mellon University. We currently have 150 graduate students, advised by a faculty of approximately 90 researchers. Our central educational facilities are housed in Benedum Engineering Hall, which is located one block from the Medical School and Presbyterian University Hospital at UPMC.

The Department of Bioengineering welcomes MD/PhD students to our Graduate Program. Students are encouraged to work for two 10-week periods in one or more of our laboratories during the summers before the first and second years of medical school, to determine their choice of PhD advisor. After 2 years of medical school, students complete the PhD portion typically in 3-4 years, before returning to finish medical school. Course requirements for MD/PhD students are designed specifically to allow each student to select those classes that are most relevant to his/her research area of interest, and typically include 1 course each in engineering mathematics and statistics, 3 courses chosen from a menu for the student's chosen graduate research track, and 5 elective courses. In addition, each student completes two teaching practicua as an introduction to classroom instruction and attends a weekly bioengineering seminar. Participants in the MD/PhD program are among the most successful and productive graduate students in the Department, providing a central link between the engineering and medical communities at the University of Pittsburgh.

Interested applicants may contact