The National Science Foundation has awarded two Rice faculty members a new Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) site: “Research at the interface between engineering and medicine (ENGMED).”
The site enables research by undergraduates in any NSF-funded field. Rice’s ENGMED REU Site will give students a chance to train in research labs with strong collaborations with the Texas Medical Center (TMC), thanks to the $460,039 grant.
“ENGMED gives talented undergraduates the opportunity to see how research collaborations between engineers and biomedical researchers can lead to healthcare breakthroughs. Our goal is to help them think about pursuing careers at this interface,” said Caleb Bashor, assistant professor of bioengineering and biosciences, and co-director of REU.
The program focuses on recruitment from colleges and universities in the Gulf region, many of which have undergraduate engineering programs but limited opportunities for biomedical research. Students tour TMC facilities, receive mentorship from faculty, post-docs and graduate students, and benefit from professional development training from Rice’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry.
Bashor’s co-director, Marcia O’Malley, Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering and department chair, outlined some of the research offered by REU:
The application of cellular and molecular engineering approaches to create living, cell-based therapies; the use of biologically compatible materials to regenerate tissue lost to disease; the creation of robotics and patient-device interfaces that automate therapy and enhance human performance; and the application of bioinformatics and machine learning to disease diagnosis and the personalization of treatment.
“Many who have finished their degrees,” Bashor said, “now find themselves in positions either performing biomedical research, or working in a related field. Several of the students have gone on to apply to and matriculate into Ph.D. programs at various schools, including Rice.”
A pilot version of the ENGMED program was first offered in 2021, again in 2022 and this year with support from the Rice provost’s office. The NSF grant will enable O’Malley and Bashor to offer the REU program through 2027 for ten students per summer.