Research

Our bioengineering researchers are nationally recognized experts whose work is having an impact on the health and well-being of people everywhere. Our key areas of research are Biomedical Imaging and Devices, Computational Biomedical Engineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, and Neurotechnology and Computational Neuroscience.

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$20 million
In active external research grants
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4
Our areas of research expertise
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No. 1
Mason is the largest public research university in Virginia
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R1
Carnegie Classification ranks Mason among the highest research institutions in the country
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262
Current undergraduate (25% honors students) and 30 PhD students

"Our goal is to help amputees go about their daily lives with improved function."

— Siddhartha Sikdar, professor of bioengineering

Discovering New Ways to Improve Health

Mason's Bioengineering Department is making a difference in people’s lives. Consider:

  • We are using the latest ultrasound technology to improve prosthetics for arms, hands, and legs with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.
  • We develop computational models to study blood flow in the brain to understand how aneurysms form, progress, and rupture, and to correct diseases of the eye. This work receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.
  • We are putting together maps of neuron connections in the brain to understand brain function and neurological diseases, funded by the National Institutes of Health.
  • Our researchers are working on nanomedicine and biomaterials with the potential to treat cancer and degenerated joint tissues and to stimulate the immune system to fight infectious diseases.

Faculty members in the Bioengineering Department are leaders in their respective areas. They make an impact through publications in high-quality journals, and they translate their findings and technologies to clinicians and commercialization partners.

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, are fully engaged in research from the beginning of their studies with ample opportunities to work with researchers from different areas.

Remi Veneziano, assistant professor of bioengineering, is using DNA nanotechnology to lay the foundation for developing vaccines that could block infection.

Remi Veneziano, assistant professor of bioengineering, is using DNA nanotechnology to lay the foundation for developing vaccines that could block infection.