The engineering school is collaborating with the School of Medicine and the
College of Arts and Sciences to provide a teaching and research environment that
advances medical engineering research and improves health care. In collaboration
with partners from industry and government, the school is pursuing new capabilities
such as gene therapy, noninvasive imaging, and cellular engineering that stand
to revolutionize the treatment of disease.
The engineering school's Virginia
Artificial Heart Center designs, develops and tests a magnetic bearing-supported
artificial heart for human implantation. Current work is on a ventricular assist
version of the pump, but future work will be on a total heart replacement. In
collaboration with the University of Utah, the center has recently won a $4.2
million grant from NIH.
The Biomedical Engineering Department recently received
a $3 million Development Award and a $7.5 million Special Grant from the Whitaker
Foundation. The University of Virginia is utilizing the Special Grant to construct
a Biomedical Engineering and Medical Science Building to house the expanded department.
Biomedical
Engineering and researchers at Northwestern University have just received a three-year,
$3.5 million NIH grant for the project entitled "Biomechanics of Leukocyte
Adhesion Molecules."
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Disease, a part of NIH, has pledged $5.1 million over five years for
the development of a cure for Crohn's Disease, a disorder that causes inflammation
in the intestines. Researchers within the Biomedical Engineering Department will
work with School of Medicine scientists in the Digestive Health Research Center
to attack this problem.
The engineering school, in collaboration with the
School of Medicine, has an NIH-funded Biotechnology Training Grant, which provides
interdisciplinary doctoral training in biotechnology through interactions with
experienced investigators in the School of Medicine and in the School of Engineering
and Applied Science. Research, education, and industry internship activities range
from molecular biology and applied immunology to process scale cell culture, enzyme
catalysis, and separation technologies.
