UH’s newly established biomedical engineering doctoral program has admitted its first students and is on track to producing its first graduates.
The program is expected to gradually expand over the next two semesters after being approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board this past summer.
“This fall we have a few students who have already transferred into the program,” Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Suresh Khator said. “We will accept some more students in Spring 2011 and beginning Fall 2011, we will be in full swing.”
Suresh explains that the gradual expansion will allow administration to hire several new faculty members and prepare the lab space that will be needed for the program.
UH already offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering, and the new doctoral program will allow students in those programs to pursue a Ph.D. and continue their studies at UH.
Khator noted the proximity to the Texas Medical Center, one of the world’s largest medical centers, when explaining why UH decided to push for this new program.
“Being only miles away from the medical center, it made perfect sense for us to start a Ph.D. in (biomedical engineering),” Khator said. “Several of our faculty in the College of Engineering are already collaborating with researchers at Texas Medical Center, (and) last year the University of Houston became a full member of the (medical center).”
Khator hopes the program will continue to promote close collaborations between medical centers and college institutions.
According to a UH news release, there will be three main areas of research: neural, cognitive and rehabilitation engineering; biomedical imaging; and genomics and proteomics. An overall goal of students will be discovering the causes of diseases and ensuring proper health care.
