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A Closely Knit Community

Nestled into the Wasatch Mountain range, the Department’s new home (foreground) is located next to the University Hospital & School of Medicine (upper left) – providing a clinically immersive educational experience that is unique among BME training programs. Visit the Center for Medical Innovation.
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Proteins - Polymers - Interfaces

Work in Professor Vladimir Hlady’s Proteins - Polymers - Interfaces Group (PPIG) focuses on proteins and other macromolecules at biomaterial-host tissue interfaces. Their main approach is to observe interfacial events involving few molecules at short length and time scales. The PPIG laboratory utilizes various experimental techniques such as AFM, RICM and FCS.   Visit Prof. Hlady's page.
Professor Rob McLeod shows a student a diagram on their computer. Rob is in ab lac tshirt and the student is in a red shirt and black scarf

Scientific Computing

Professor Rob MacLeod and his group use both computational and experimental approaches to understand the electrical activity of the heart and brain. Specific topics include cardiac ischemia and heart attacks, heart rhythm disorders, cardiac defibrillation, and modulation of brain activity with electrical and magnetic stimulation.   Visit Prof. MacLeod's page.

Synthesis of Biomaterials

The Kramer lab synthesizes new biomaterials toward tissue models of cancer and infection   Visit Prof. Kramer's page.
Dr. Kara Johnson and her student, Ethan Vega in their lab.

Proteins - Polymers - Interfaces

Work in Professor Vladimir Hlady’s Proteins - Polymers - Interfaces Group (PPIG) focuses on proteins and other macromolecules at biomaterial-host tissue interfaces. Their main approach is to observe interfacial events involving few molecules at short length and time scales. The PPIG laboratory utilizes various experimental techniques such as AFM, RICM and FCS.   Visit Prof. Hlady's page.

Tissue Engineering

Professor Robby D. Bowles’ lab is developing therapeutic strategies to treat patients suffering from back pain. They use a combination of tissue engineering, gene delivery, and immunomodulation to alter disease progression, which affects both the function of the spine and pain felt by the patient.   Visit Prof. Bowles’ page.
Professor Richard Rabbit works a circuit boar. He has curly hair that reaches his ears. A white lab coat over an orange button down

Hallpike-Nylén Prize Winner

Professor Rick Rabbitt is internationally recognized for his work on the neurophysiology of the inner ear vestibular organs and is developing new technologies to measure the biophysical properties of excitable membrane proteins and exo-endocytosis in cardiac myocytes and inner-ear hair cells.   Visit Prof. Rabbitt's page.

Biomaterials

Professor Michael Yu’s research group pioneered a new peptide-based collagen targeting strategy which is being developed into new biotechnology in disease detection, tissue engineering and targeted therapy.   Visit Prof. Yu’s page.

Engineering New Therapeutic Approaches

Professor Henry Kopecek is internationally recognized as one of the true pioneers in drug delivery, developing biomimetic macromolecules as targetable delivery systems for anticancer and antiinflammatory therapies, and new biomaterials.   Visit Prof. Kopecek's group.

Improving Biocompatibility

Professor Patrick Tresco's lab is developing biologically informed approaches to reduce persistent inflammation and the foreign body response surrounding basic science tools and biomedical devices chronically implanted in the CNS.   Visit Dr. Tresco's page.

Research

A rich interdisciplinary department comprising science, engineering and medicine. We develop technologies in synthetic biology, medical imaging, biomaterials, biomechanics, drug delivery, neural engineering, computational biomedical engineering, tissue engineering and other specialty areas.

Undergraduate

The University of Utah Biomedical Engineering Department Undergraduate Program has 21 primary faculty, over 100 auxiliary faculty, and graduates about 70 Bachelor of Science students annually. The program is among few undergraduate programs in the nation that require a senior project and a biomedical device design experience with significant exposure to the regulatory environment.

Graduate

The University of Utah Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program draws participating faculty from over 30 departments and organizations across 4 colleges, representing both the health sciences and the main campus.  Full-time graduate student enrollment exceeds 120 with about a 3:1 ratio of Ph.D. to M.S. students.

Faculty Positions Open

Assistant Professor in Biomechanics

Tenure track faculty position open in the area of Biomechanical Engineering. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2027. This position is for Assistant Professor, however, any rank may be considered based on qualifications.

Assistant/Associate/Professor in Neurotechnology

Tenure track faculty position in the area of Neurotechnology, Brain Computer Interfaces, and Bionics. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2026. This position is open rank.

Assistant/Associate/Professor in Imaging

Tenure track faculty position open in the area of Biomedical Imaging. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2026. This position is open rank.

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Job Listing

Upcoming BME Events

Price & Marcia College of Engineering Fall Food Drive November 9th - 20th

Decorative flyer indicating information for the Fall Food Drive from November 9-20 and a QR code to vote for the best box.
BME's box designed to look like a turkey dinner. The box is painted brown with attachable 3D turkey legs. It sits on a thanksgiving plate with hand made mash potatoes, stuffing, carrots, peas, cranberry sauce, and a garnish of lettuce, oranges, and cranberries.
Map depicting the Sorenson Molecular Biology Building on the University of Utah campus

36 S. Wasatch Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84112