Graduate Degree Programs

Division of Bioengineering and Environmental Health Science

An exciting new strategic initiative in education programs at BPEC involves the creation of a "Division of Bioengineering and Environmental Health Science" (BEEH). This Division reports directly to the Dean of Engineering; one of the two co-Directors is BPEC's Director, Professor Douglas A. Lauffenburger.

The center plans to offer 4 degree programs through BEEH:

• undergraduate minor in Biomedical Engineering (currently exists)
• 5-year BS/MS Bioengineering Degree (planned for Fall 1999)
• PhD in Bioengineering (planned for Fall 1999)
• PhD in Toxicology (currently exists).

A Curriculum Working Group has begun work on the framework for the new Bioengineering PhD degree program planned to begin operation in Fall 1999. This program will be offered alongside the ongoing Toxicology PhD program within BEEH. We anticipate bringing in ~1 new PhD student per year per BEEH faculty member for these two programs combined. With an initial faculty of approximately 25, we plan to begin by recruiting about 20-25 students annually into the Bioengineering and Toxicology programs starting in 1999. This number is expected to grow commensurately with the number of BEEH faculty, with distribution between the Bioengineering and Toxicology programs. (We see increasing commonality between the Bioengineering and Toxicology programs, with the latter increasing in quantitative perspective and the former increasing in biological and biochemical emphasis.)

Bioengineering graduate students will initially be admitted into BEEH in partnership with Departments in the Schools of Engineering and Science; within a few years students may be admitted directly into BEEH as well. The Division will offer its own doctoral qualifying exam at the end of the first year of graduate work (or whenever the student has completed the Bioscience and Bioengineering Core subject requirements). The centerpiece of the Bioengineering Core will be a seminar termed "Perspectives in Bioengineering," introducing students to experimental and theoretical approaches at the engineering/biology interface, communicated by a spectrum of BEEH faculty using a case-study method. The remainder of the Bioengineering Core will require 3 lecture subjects from a choice of 6 areas synthesizing engineering analysis with molecular-, cell- and tissue-level bioscience: (1) molecular, cell and tissue biomechanics; (2) biological transport phenomena; (3) biochemical and cell kinetics; (4) structure and properties of natural and synthetic biomaterials; (5) instrumentation and measurement of molecular, cell and tissue properties; (6) computational biology. A hallmark of this Core will be emphasis on integration across the molecular, cell and tissue levels. The Bioscience Core will consist of molecular cell biology and physiology, with biochemistry as a prerequisite. Thus, the formal Bioscience and Bioengineering Core subject requirements are anticipated to sum to 6, so they should typically be completed within the first year of study along with any needed prerequisites. Following the doctoral qualifying exam, an additional Engineering Science requirement (3 subjects to develop engineering science depth) and further elective subjects will be pursued. Students will choose a research advisor at the end of the first year of graduate work. Details based on this framework will be resolved during the Summer of 1998, and we anticipate offering versions of the new courses during the 1998-99 academic year.

The primary mode of interactions between students in the degree programs and industry is via the affiliated research centers: BPEC, CBE and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS). In addition to student involvement in industry-sponsored research grants, BPEC and CBE have regular meetings with industrial advisory boards in which students participate. Industrial interest in the planned degree programs is already strong-fellowship support for PhD students in bioengineering has already been provided by Medtronic and other companies have indicated an interest in similar means of student support.

Teamwork Projects in Biotechnology Process Engineering

A second new education initiative is directed at both MIT undergraduate and graduate students. The aim is to make teamwork part of the educational experience along with involvement of industry. Two undergraduate courses (10.26 and 10.491) and one graduate course (10.549) will be part of this new program. Supplemental funding from NSF has been requested to execute this new initiative entitled "Teamwork Projects in Biotechnology Process Engineering."

The overall goal of the proposed project is to bring recent concepts in teamwork education into two new courses arising from the MIT Biotechnology Process Engineering Center (BPEC) and to evaluate its impact on student learning using measurable objectives. The new courses are "Cell & Tissue Engineering" (10.549) and "Design of Cell Separation Processes" (10.491, Integrated Chemical Engineering module), both derived from BPEC research related to its new "Nucleic Acid Biotechnology" Thrust.

NIH Interdepartmental Biotechnology Training Program (BTG)

Twenty-two Training Faculty from the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Mathematics and the recently established department-level Division of Bioengineering & Environmental Health participate in this program. The objective of the BTG is to continue to provide cross-disciplinary graduate education in biotechnology, now extending into new directions related to innovative biology-based therapeutics, such as nucleic acids (e.g., vaccines, anti-sense therapies, gene therapies), engineered cell and tissue implants, and new biomaterials useful for stimulating wound healing and tissue regeneration. BTG has been reconfigured to position itself to provide the most effective possible training for these expanded opportunities.

Students participating in the program take a broader range of course material to integrate biochemical , genetic, and engineering knowledge. In addition they participate in the newly formed "Biotechnology & Bioengineering" student seminar series. The central features of the training program are: (1) qualifying students must have satisfied the first year requirements within a departmental graduate program, so as not to interfere with the integrity of the disciplinary training; (2) insistence on inter-disciplinary coursework; and (3) a diverse set of alternatives for ensuring exposure to applications of the fundamental biotechnology training.

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