Overview

BioE Med into Grad brings together the Bioengineering PhD program at Rice, ranked in the top 10 nationally, with the clinical and basic science strengths of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which is consistently ranked as the leading cancer hospital in the nation. Rice and M.D. Anderson are within a 10 minute walking distance, and are part of the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world.

Our program builds on the strong base of joint translational research between bioengineers at Rice and basic scientists and clinicians at M.D. Anderson in four areas:

1. Computational bioengineering for design of cancer inhibiting drugs and vaccines;
2. Molecular imaging for early cancer detection;
3. Nanobiotechnology to design new cancer imaging and therapeutic agents; and
4. Cell and tissue engineering to develop reconstructive procedures following tumor resection.

The goal of the BioE Med into Grad training program is to develop professionals with the expertise to make breakthroughs needed to reduce the incidence and mortality of cancer.

Training Program

Approximately seven new PhD students each year will be admitted to this program. In their first summer, students complete an intensive Introductory Clinical Cancer Internship, in which they attend clinical rotations at M.D. Anderson in Diagnostic Cancer Imaging, Surgery, and Radiotherapy.

Students are required to complete a track of five formal courses offered jointly by Rice and M.D. Anderson:

1. Oncology for Bioengineers: Molecules to Organs;
2. Cancer Biology;
3. New Technologies for Cancer Diagnostics: Nano to Micro to Macro; 
4. Mechanisms in Cancer Therapeutics; and 
5. Translational Research.

During the first year of the program, students identify their translational thesis project and will select clinical, basic science and bioengineering co-advisors. In their second summer, students carry out an Advanced Clinical Cancer Internship at M.D. Anderson in an area related to their research topic.

BioE Med into Grad students also attend a seminar series in Translational Bioengineering for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics. In this unique series, each seminar is jointly taught by a clinical faculty member, a basic science faculty member, and a bioengineering faculty member to integrate discussion of clinical cancer needs, advances in cancer biology, and new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies which build on these advances to meet clinical needs.

Faculty

The program involves participation of faculty from both Rice Bioengineering and UT M.D. Anderson. The program is directed by Dr. Rebecca Richards-Kortum. Other members of the Leadership Team include Drs. Ann Gillenwater (MDACC), Walter Hittelman (MDACC), Joel Moake (Rice BioE), and Jennifer West (Rice BioE).

There are currently 17 full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty in Bioengineering at Rice. In addition, there are more than 40 faculty who hold adjunct appointments in Bioengineering at Rice. Most of these faculty have their primary appointment in another engineering department at Rice or at one of the Texas Medical Center Institutions, including M.D. Anderson. The Center for Biomedical Engineering at MD Anderson includes 32 members from the Texas Medical Center. All of these faculty will participate in the program, either by teaching or by co-mentoring students enrolled in the Translational Bioengineering track.