Welcome to Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to advance healthcare practices, including medical diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. This highly multidisciplinary field cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries of engineering, biology, and medicine, and emphasizes the importance of translational engineering research that makes findings from basic science useful for practical applications that improve human health.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Michigan State University consists of core faculty and adjunct faculty with interdisciplinary interests ranging from bioinformatics to nano-robotics to neural engineering to molecular imaging. The department is growing rapidly and is located in a new 130,000 square-foot facility outfitted with state-of-the-art research tools and infrastructure. Our department is closely aligned with MSU’s new Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering. Research and training opportunities are available through multiple new initiatives including investment in novel imaging systems, new partnerships with healthcare organizations McLaren Health and Henry Ford Health, and the MSU Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), allowing for exploration of rare isotopes in medical diagnostics and treatment.
Welcome to the Biomedical Engineering Department (BME) at Michigan State University! Biomedical Engineering at Michigan State University engages faculty across disciplines, departments, and colleges to explore the intersection of medicine, human biology with engineering research, design, and practice. Through collaboration and interdisciplinary research, we aim to develop new methods for understanding, diagnosing, and treating medical conditions, and translating discoveries from the laboratory to the classroom and the clinic.
Michigan State University is a leader in interdisciplinary biomedical research, and the resources of the BME Department are enhanced by collaborations throughout the College of Engineering and with many other MSU Colleges, including Human Medicine; Osteopathic Medicine; Veterinary Medicine; Nursing; Natural Science; and Communications Arts and Sciences. The BME Department is housed in MSU's new Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering, an interdisciplinary research center devoted to basic and applied research at the interface of life sciences, engineering, information science, and other physical and mathematic sciences.
Cheri Deng
Chairperson
Biomedical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to advance healthcare practices, including medical diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. This highly multidisciplinary field cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries of engineering, biology, and medicine, and emphasizes the importance of translational engineering research that makes findings from basic science useful for practical applications that improve human health.
The BME Department at Michigan State University (MSU) offers Ph.D. and Master's graduate programs. A wide range of course offerings and research activities allows an individual program to be designed to fit the background, capabilities, and goals of the student. See the Department of Biomedical Engineering's Graduate Academic Program section to learn more about our graduate program and degree requirements. For application requirements, please see our doctoral program admission detail. Additional information for current and future graduate students is available in the Graduate Studies page.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering is located in the Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering (IQ), which is dedicated to basic and applied research at the intersection of engineering, human medicine, and natural science.
Michigan State University Department of Biomedical Engineering Alumni Advisory Board as of October 2026.
- Douglas Noll, dnoll@umich.edu
- Dr. Noll is the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Radiology at the University of Michigan, co-director of the Functional MRI Laboratory, and currently serves as interim chair of the Biomedical Engineering department, with research focused on advanced MRI methods for functional neuroimaging.
- Agata Exner, agata.exner@case.edu
- Dr. Exner is Director, CWRU Center for Imaging Research, Henry Willson Payne Professor & Vice Chair, Dept. of Radiology, Case Western Reserve University. She leads a program in image-guided drug delivery, ultrasound contrast agents, and nanomedicine for cancer imaging and therapy.
- Shubhi Rao, shubhi@uplevyl.com
- Ms. Rao is the Founder & CEO of Upleyvl, a tech platform supporting professional women globally. With 30+ years in finance and leadership roles at Alphabet/Google, Tesco, PwC, Tyco, and Ford, she has deep expertise in treasury, strategy, and emerging tech like AI and blockchain. She serves on the board of NASDAQ-listed Open Lending and major think tanks. Shubhi holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a Computer Science degree from Michigan State University.
- Taly Gilat-Schmidt, tgilat@yahoo.com
- (Former Professor at Marquette BME, Now Director of Development for Onc.AI, Academic and Industry Experience). Dr. Gilat-Schmidt is a medical imaging scientist and former Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Marquette University who now serves as Director of Advanced Development at Onc.AI, where she leads AI-driven imaging model development for precision oncology informed by extensive academic experience in CT and breast imaging research.
- Steven Chang, changs32@msu.edu
- Dr. Chang is chair of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Health and an associate clinical professor and interim chair at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, an NCI-funded head and neck cancer surgeon–researcher whose work focuses on patient-centered outcomes and quality of life in head and neck oncology.
- Sam Achilefu, Samuel.Achilefu@UTSouthwestern.edu
- Dr. Achiliefu is Professor and inaugural Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UT Southwestern, where he holds the Lyda Hill Distinguished University Chair and leads internationally recognized research in cancer molecular imaging, image-guided surgery, and nanotherapeutics.
- Brad Sutton, bsutton@illinois.edu
- Dr. Sutton is a Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Technical Director of the Beckman Institute Biomedical Imaging Center, where he develops advanced MRI methods to study brain function and speech/swallowing dynamics and holds multiple cross-appointments spanning neuroscience, ECE, and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine
