Our faculty span six colleges and 12 departments, bringing a wide range of expertise to biomedical engineering research. Their research efforts, combined with the rich intellectual background at Cornell, provide students with a wide range of opportunities.
 | Biomaterials The design of a wide array of surgical implants, artificial organs, controlled drug-delivery devices, and wound-closure devices is critically dependent on biomaterials. |
 | Biomedical instrumentation and diagnostics Our unique facilities and extensive collaborations among engineers, physical scientists, life scientists, and clinicians provide superb opportunities to create and improve sophisticated instruments and methods. |
 | Systems biology Recent advances in modern biology, particularly genomics and high-throughput analyses, are now providing biological data at rates that were unimaginable 10 years ago. |
 | Drug delivery, design, production, and metabolism New initiatives in systems biology and genomics combined with a focus on structural biology and genetic medicine provide a rich basis for engineering efforts in drug delivery, design, production, and metabolism. |
 | Biomedical mechanics Engineering principles are combined with computer-aided design and visualization and structural analysis to answer basic and clinical research questions about the musculoskeletal and bone-implant systems. |
Cornell has a long history of contributions in the area of bioengineering, primarily by faculty and students, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in this field. Among them are Wilson Greatbatch, who was instrumental in the invention of the cardiac pacemaker; Robert Langer, an alumnus who won the Draper Prize from the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to controlled drug delivery, biomaterials and tissue engineering; and David Lederman, whose company, Abiomed, engineered the first implantable total artificial heart.
What Cornell has lacked has been a focused research and curricula activity bridging biology, human medicine and engineering. The biomedical engineering program was established April 2002 to be that bridge. It has evolved to a separate department of Biomedical Engineering.