Electives

Nanoengineering in Biomedicine

Course Overview (FS ‘22): The recent advances in nanoengineering and nanotechnology have been harnessed to fix technical problems and test hypotheses into complex biomedical questions. The course will cover conventional synthetic and manufacturing techniques of nanoscale materials, devices, as well as specific nanosystems, being applied towards medicine, medical diagnostics, imaging, sensing, and tissue regeneration, etc. The course will go over fundamental science related to nanoscale properties such as magnetic, electronic, photonic, structural, mechanical, and catalytic activity and the challenges associated with retaining these properties into the biological systems. The course will also cover practical issues in which nanoengineering and nanomaterials interact with the length scales on which humans live. In this course, research methods in nanomedicine will be emphasized (e.g., critical analysis of scientific literature, effective written/oral communication, etc.).

Instructor: Taeho Kim, Ph.D.

Stem Cell Engineering

Course description (FS ‘22): This course is an introduction to stem cell biology concepts and stem cell engineering approaches for biomedical engineering students and related disciplines. Topics covered will include basic concepts of developmental biology, stem cell biology and cell signaling, stem cell microenvironment, as well as critical concepts of tissue engineering and stem cell engineering, such as modeling human tissues with stem cells, repairing tissues with stem cells, stem cell gene editing, cell reprogramming and stem cell-based cancer therapeutics. The course is open to graduate students and senior undergraduate students with an interest in tissue engineering and biomedical engineering. A basic knowledge of cell biology and molecular biology is highly recommended. The course's final objective is to provide students with a state-of-the-art perspective of stem cell biology and stem cell engineering principles of critical relevance for biomedical engineering applications.

Instructor: Aitor Aguirre, Ph.D.

Dynamical Systems in Computational Biology

Course description (SS ‘23): A thorough understanding of fundamental principles in Dynamical Systems is essential for modern Computational Biology. This course will provide an accessible introduction to Nonlinear Dynamics with examples of applications in Cell Biology. Beginning with one-dimensional flows on the line, we will introduce bifurcations, phase plane analysis for two-dimensional systems, oscillations, and limit cycles. We will discuss the application of these concepts in Systems Biology, with simplified models of gene regulation, signal amplification in cell signaling networks, and the cell cycle and circadian oscillations. This course, which combines theory with hands-on computer modeling, will be of interest to advanced undergraduate students in engineering, as well as physicists and computer scientists interested in modeling biological systems.

Instructor: Sudin Bhattacharya, Ph.D.

Selected Topics in Chemical Biology

Course Description (SS ‘23): This course will teach the latest developments in chemical design for watching and controlling biological processes including in radiochemistry, small molecules, protein design and engineering, and the use of novel biologics in translational biomedical research. It will be taught by the faculty members of the IQ Chemical Biology Division or their collaborators. The instructors are affiliated with the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Radiology. Topics to be covered will include chemical control of biology; radiopharmaceutical development, testing, and utilization; cancer immunotherapy; small molecule control protein design & engineering; carbohydrate chemistry and biology; delivery of drugs and biologics, novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Lead Instructor: Xuefei Huang, Ph.D.

Biomedical Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy

Next Steps