Biomedical Engineering (BME) is an emerging, intrinsically multidisciplinary field, which holds out the promise of greatly improving health care. BME is essential for the conversion of basic advances in biology to useful devices and therapies that repair injuries and defects in the human body. Further, engineering approaches, particularly systems analysis, will be important to biological discovery as biology moves towards a more integrationist, rather than reductionist, perspective. Cornell has outstanding faculty in engineering, human and veterinary medicine, and the life sciences, and many of these have already made significant contributions to biomedical engineering and more broadly to bioengineering.

In April 2002 Michael Shuler was named the first director of the Biomedical Engineering Program (BMEP) and BMEP activities are in the early stages of development.

The document that established the program and its structure stipulated that critical to success "is the creation of a structure designed to catalyze teaching and research efforts related to biomedical engineering, serve university-wide instructional needs, and act as the identifiable entity to promote these university-wide efforts. The program will be responsible for:

• coordination and delivery of educational programs in Biomedical Engineering (BME),

• collaborating and coordinating with other programs in facilitating the transfer of life science concepts into engineering and engineering approaches into the life sciences, and catalyzing interactions associated with medicine and human health between biologists, physical scientists, and engineers,

• taking leadership within the Cornell bioengineering community on matters relating life sciences and human health and medicine, and

• promoting and enhancing the visibility of the BME community and BMEP program for attracting faculty, students, and research funds."

The BMEP has initiated a reformulated minor in BME for engineering students and a Program of Study in BME for biology students is in initial stages of discussion; a one-year, professional Masters of Engineering in BME is planned to start in Fall 2004. The current BME graduate field (MS/Ph.D.) will be administered through the BMEP and has four focal areas:

1. Biomaterials
2. Biomedical Instrumentation and Diagnostics
3. Biomedical Mechanics
4. Drug Delivery, Design, Production, and Metabolism.

Faculty come from 6 colleges and 12 different departments. There are 30 graduate field and program faculty; 9 are from the Weill Medical College.

A group of 12 core BMEP faculty are envisioned; 3 are hired and 9 anticipated. Consistent with the theme of bridging units, the BMEP core faculty will be maintained through a dual appointment process. All BMEP core faculty are hired, tenured, and promoted through an existing academic department. BMEP core faculty in the College of Engineering have their teaching assignments through the BMEP director and will build research groups with approximately 50% BME graduate students and 50% through the existing academic unit. These graduate groups serve as intellectual bridges between BMEP and existing units.

It should be noted that bioengineering is much broader than biomedical engineering and many existing units carry out significant research and education in bioengineering that also bridges engineering and biology, but only BMEP has a focus on human health. Except for three additional bioengineering bridging lines in the College of Engineering to infuse modern biology into traditional engineering departments, there are no other university-wide coordinated efforts in bioengineering hiring.