University of Rochester
Program in Biomedical Engineering
The University of Rochester is private research-oriented university established in 1850. It encompasses The College (including Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences), the Simon Business School, the Eastman School of Music, the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Warner School of Education. It is home to approximately 4,400 undergraduates (3,800 of whom are in the College) and 2,650 graduate students. It offers the academic opportunities of a national research university, along with an environment scaled to the individual. The Biomedical Engineering Program features the combined expertise of faculty from the College as well as from the School of Medicine and Dentistry, with facilities all within a ten minute walk of each other.
The Community
Rochester is located in the Genesee River valley on the shores of Lake Ontario. The city is in the heart of the Finger Lakes region and close to the Adirondack wilderness region. With no heavy industry or refineries, the city's commercial base is primarily technological. It I home to Kodak, Bausch and Lomb and Xerox. Small-city in size, with a population of about a million, the community has big-city offerings in museums and other cultural resources and in professional sports. The area has numerous parks, fields, woods, streams, and lakes, providing opportunities for water sports, hiking, fishing, and skiing.
Programs of study
The Program in Biomedical Engineering is a free-standing interdisciplinary graduate program leading to a doctoral degree in Biomedical Engineering. Students are admitted directly to the program and are subject only to the degree requirements established by the Program faculty. Recommended programs of study are tailored to the specific needs and interests of the student. Students are encouraged to begin research as soon as possible, typically by the summer following the first year of study. Coursework is generally completed by the end of the second year of study, after which the student focuses full time on original research leading to the dissertation. Formal requirements include written and oral examinations, a thesis and an oral defense. The expected time to complete the degree is five to six years. The program includes more than 40 faculty in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and the Institute of Optics, as well as clinical and basic science departments in the Medical School. The wide range of research opportunities in which students may engage includes investigations into the physical and biochemical mechanisms regulating microvascular flow and interstitial transport, development of culture systems for production of cells and tissues, single cell micromechanical testing of cellular rheological properties and adhesive interactions, modeling of tissue mechanics in the developing heart and growing bone, imaging techniques for technology assisted surgery, tissue characterization and treatment using ultrasound, medical image processing, and application of optical methods in clinical diagnosis and treatment.
Facilities & Resources
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is housed in more than 110,000 sq. ft. of laboratory, classroom and office space, approximately 41,500 sq. ft of which are research laboratories. In addition, there are extensive research facilities in the Medical Center, which is a five minute walk from the Engineering Departments. In addition to research labs in the Engineering School, the participating faculty occupy a total of approximately 40,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and office space in the Medical Center, which is available for student research activities. Dedicated in Spring 2007, Goergen Hall, a 100,000-square-foot building features extensive research facilities, undergraduate and graduate teaching labs, state-of-the-art demonstration and lecture halls, as well as the new Center for Institute Ventures, an initiative to help faculty commercialize their research and discoveries.
Expenses and Aid
Financial Aid
All students admitted to the Ph.D. program receive financial aid in the form of a competitive stipend, comprehensive health insurance and a full tuition scholarship. This financial support does not require teaching or laboratory assistant duties, beyond those that are integral to the degree requirements.. Partial tuition scholarships, but no stipends are available for MS degree candidates. Federal work-study program funds, government or personal loans, or part-time employment may sometimes be used to meet expenses. Employment opportunities for student spouses are available in the community and at the University. The University of Rochester offers a variety of housing accommodations for married and single graduate students ranging in cost from $300/month for a studio apartment to $634/month for a 3-bedroom townhouse. Other housing options are available in the nearby community, many within walking distance of the campus. Cost of food and sundries generally ranges from $150-$250/month for a single person.
How to Apply
The program is designed primarily for students who have received four year baccalaureate degrees in engineering or applied physics, but students from other baccalaureate degree programs may apply. Undergraduate training should include courses in calculus through differential equations, inorganic chemistry and physics, as well as in depth training in engineering or the physical sciences appropriate for one of the three main focus areas of our program. Applicants are required to take the graduate record examination (GRE) and foreign applicants whose native language is not English must achieve a minimum score of 600 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), unless they are graduates of a U.S. undergraduate program. Completed applications should be received by February 1. .
Who to contact
Biomedical Engineering Program
Gavett Hall, Room 201A
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 1462
Phone (716) 275-3891
Fax (716) 756-7771email: bme_gradinfo@seas.rochester.edu
Web Site
The Faculty and Their Research
J.S. Abramowicz, Associate Professor; M.D., Sackler School fo Medicine, 1975. Prenatal diagnosis of fetal anomalies; use of contrast media in enhancing sonographic imaging of the placenta.
A. Clark, Jr., Professor; Ph.D., MIT, 1963. Oxygen transport in the microcirculation.
D. Dalecki, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Rochester, 1993. Biomedical ultrasound, acoustics, lithotripsy, biological effects of ultrasound.
P.M. Fauchet, Professor; Ph.D., Stanford, 1984. Optoelectronic and photonic materials and devices, with particular emphasis on developing applications of novel technology for improving health care and reducting its cost.
B.M. Fenton, Associate Professor; Ph.D., California, San Diego, 1980. Tumor vascular structure, oxygenation and radiosensitivity.
M.F. Flessner, Associate Professor; Ph.D. Michigan, 1981; M.D. Maryland, 1985. Transport of water, small solutes, and macromolecules across the peritoneum and through the underlying tissue.
T.H. Foster, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Rochester, 1990. Photodynamic therapy of cancer, optical spectroscopy and imaging of tissue.
M.D.S. Frame, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Missouri-Columbia, 1990. Vascular communications and the control of peripheral blood flow.
K.J. Gingrich, Assistant Professor; M.D., Pittsburgh, 1984. Biophysics, structure-function, and pharmacology of ion channels.
S.M. Gracewski, Associate Professor; Ph.D., UC-Berkeley, 1984. Methods of stone fragmentation during clinical lithotripsy; cavitation in response to ultrasound pulses.
A.R. Haake, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., South Carolina, 1985. Cell-signalaing mechanisms controlling proliferation and apoptosis during skin development and aging.
D.C. Hocking, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Albany, 1992. Regulation of cell behavior by the extracellula rmatrix.
K. Kutulakos, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison, 1994. Dermatological application of image processing, including computer vision and robotics; silhouette-based shape recovery, augmented reality and image-based rendering.
A.L. Lerner, Assistant Professor; Ph.D.., Michigan, 1996. Biomechanics of bone growth.
S.F. Levinson, Assistant Professor; Ph.D. Purdue, 1981; M.D. Indiana, 1983. Ultrasonic elasticity imaging (sonoelastography) of human skeletal muscle.
C.R. Maurer Jr., Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Vanderbilt, 1996. Medical imaging and image processing, image registration; I;mage-guided therapy; medical applications of augmented reality.
J.G. Mottley, Associate Professor; Ph.D. Washington Univ., St. Louis, 1985. Biomedical applications of ultrasound, including ultrasonic tissue characterization and contrast agents.
Harvey J. Palmer, Professor; Ph.D., Univ Washington, 1971. Interfacial phenomena, heat and mass transfer applied to biological stystems.
K.J. Parker, Professor; Ph.D., MIT, 1981. Medical imaging, medical ultrasound, elasticity imaging, doppler imaging, image processing.
A.P. Pentland, Professor; M.D., Michigan, 1978. Phospholipases and cycloxygenases in epidermal function and their role in carcinogenesis and cell differentiation; digital imaging and virtual reality for dermatology.
R. Perucchio, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Cornell, 1981; D. Engr., Univ Pisa, Italy, 1977. Finite element biomechanical modeling of the embryonic heart, computational geometric modeling from biological data, large scale computation.
J.E. Puzas, Professor; Ph.D., Rochester, 1976. Molecular and cellular biology of bone.
R.J. Rivers, Assistant Professor; M.D., Ph.D., UVA, 1990. Integration of the regulators of blood flow in the microcirculation.
D.J. Rubens, Associate Professor; M.D., Rochester, 1979. Ultrasound sonoelasticity; 3-dimensional imaging; contrast agents.
I.H. Sarelius, Professor; Ph.D. Univ Auckland, N.Z., 1978. Vascular cell communication and microvascular function.
S.H. Seidman, Senior Instructor; Ph.D., Case Western, 1993. Neural control and mathematical modeling of reflex eye movements; physiological control systems.
S.M.S. Totterman, Associate Professor; M.D., Oulu (Finland), 1967; Ph.D. Bergman (Norway), 1983. Magnetic resonance imaging for clinical diagnosis with particular application to evaluation and treatment of orthopedic injury and disease.
R.E. Waugh, Professor; Ph.D., Duke, 1977. Mechanical and thermodynamic properties of biological membranes; cellular mechanics and function of cytoskeletal proteins.
D.R. Williams, Professor; Ph.D., UC San Diego, 1979. Physiological optics, visual instrumentation and retinal imaging, color and spatial vision
J.H.D. Wu, Associate Professor; Ph.D., MIT, 1987. Bone marrow tissue engineering and microenvironment studies; lymphocyte culture; molecular and biochemical engineering.
J. Yang, Associate Professor; M.D., Brown, 1982,; M.D., Washington (St. Louis), 1986. Molecular pharmacology of ion channel and viral vector-mediated neuronal receptor engineering.
J. Zhong, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Brown, 1988. Development and medical application of magnetic resonance imaging.