Graduate CurriculumPh.D. students must complete 27 semester hours

of courses approved by the program faculty, exclud-ing seminar, research and teaching hours. Within therequired 27 hours is a modular sequence of 12 onecredit hour courses that are taken within the firsttwo semesters. After the first year, all Ph.D. candi-dates must take the preliminary exam given by thedepartment.

Financial AssistanceFinancial awards are available in several forms,

such as University Fellowships, Graduate TeachingAssistantships, Graduate Research Assistantshipsand Traineeships. Virtually all students who are admit-ted based on merit are offered a financial supportpackage. The financial support package typically con-sists of a competitive stipend, a tuition waiver andfull health insurance coverage. Students interested infinancial assistance should check the appropriate boxunder "Financial Information" on the online applica-tion. Information online: www.vanderbilt.edu/gradschool

The Graduate ProgramThe Vanderbilt biomedical engineering (BME)

graduate program is a pioneer in its field. The pro-gram was one of the first of its kind and remains oneof the most well respected programs nationally. It isranked in the top 20 U.S. biomedical engineeringgraduate programs by U.S. News & World Report.The department is unique among biomedical engi-neering programs in its immediate proximity to theworld class Vanderbilt Medical Center, located on ourcompact campus. Our School of Medicine is amongthe top 10 in funding from the National Institutes ofHealth. This proximity and the strong relationshipsamong faculty across multiple schools stimulate highimpact multidisciplinary research opportunities forgraduate students.

The broad research interests of our faculty are infive thematic areas: Cellular Sensing and Control,Instrumentation and Modeling, Biomedical Pho-tonics, Medical Imaging, Nanomedicine and Bio-materials. The significant collaboration among thesethrusts and the Vanderbilt Medical Center enablesour students to work on multiple organ systems atmultiple scales for the design and development ofnovel therapeutics, diagnostics, and biomedical de-vices.

Graduate AdmissionsGraduate education is focused on the Ph.D. de-

gree. Selective admissions results in fewer than15% of applicants admitted. Application fees arewaved for online applications. To enter the BMEgraduate program, you must meet the general re-quirements of admission by the Vanderbilt UniversityGraduate School. Information online: www.vanderbilt.edu/gradschool

Important DatesOctober 22: Last date to take paper-based general GRENovember 19: Last date to take TOEFL (Internationals) December 1: Last date to take computer-based general GREJanuary 15: Application deadline, including all supporting

credentials February 15: Admission offers madeApril 15: Deadline to accept admission

About Vanderbilt & NashvilleA private research university, Vanderbilt was

founded in 1873 and named for Cornelius Vanderbilt,who provided the school its initial $1 million endow-ment. Vanderbilt enrolls approximately 12,000 stu-dents from all 50 U.S. states and over 90 foreigncountries in four undergraduate and six graduate andprofessional schools. Several research centers andinstitutes are affiliated with the university, includingthe Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, Free-dom Forum First Amendment Center, Dyer Observa-tory, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, theonly Level I trauma center in Middle Tennessee.Vanderbilt’s hometown of Nashville (population of

the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area is1,582,264) is a vibrant, engaging city known proudlyas "Music City, U.S.A." The Bridgestone Arena ishome to the National Hockey League team, theNashville Predators. The National Football League’sTennessee Titans’ home is LP Field in downtownNashville. Vanderbilt is located a little more than amile from downtown and the university’s students,faculty, staff and visitors frequently cite Nashville asone of the perks of Vanderbilt.

The Graduate Program

Contact

DEPARTMENT OF

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

W. David Merryman, Ph.D., Director of Graduate Recruiting, Biomedical EngineeringRoom 5824B, Stevenson Center, VU Station B #351631, Nashville, TN 37235-1631, Phone: (615) 322-7219, Fax: (615) 343-7919email: david.merryman@vanderbilt.edu | http://engineering.vanderbilt.edu/BiomedicalEngineering.aspx

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Cellular Sensing and ControlFranz Baudenbacher, Ph.D., Cardiac arrhythmogenesis, excitation-contraction cou-pling and bioenergetics, bioinstrumentation and bioMEMshttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/viibre/baudenbacher.html

W. David Merryman, Ph.D., Cardiovascular mechanobiology and tissue engineer-ing, cell and tissue mechanics, and fibroblast mechanotransductionhttp://research.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/mechanobiology/

John P. Wikswo, Ph.D., Biological physics, cardiac electrophysiology, cellular instru-mentation and control, electromagnetism, SQUID magnetometry, systems biologyhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/viibre/

Medical Devices and ModelingRobert L. Galloway Jr., Ph.D., Technology-guided therapy, medical imaginghttp://www.tgt.vanderbilt.edu/index.htm

Michael Miga, Ph.D., Biomedical modeling, tissue biomechanics, numerical meth-ods, technology-guided therapy, medical image analysishttp://bmlweb.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/

Biomedical PhotonicsE. Duco Jansen, Ph.D., Laser-tissue interaction, cellular effects of laser energy, ap-plication of light, lasers and optical technology in medicine and biology, optical stim-ulation of neural tissue http://www.bme.vanderbilt.edu/bmeoptics/index.htm

Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, Ph.D. Biomedical photonics, diagnosis with opticalspectroscopy and imaging, optical guidance of therapy, neurophotonicshttp://www.bme.vanderbilt.edu/bmeoptics/index.htm

Melissa Skala, Ph.D. Optical imaging of cancer, optical spectroscopy, nanotechnol-ogy, cancer diagnosis & therapyhttp://research.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/skalalab/

Medical ImagingAdam W. Anderson, Ph.D., Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, diffu-sion tensor imaging, high field MRIhttp://vuiis.vanderbilt.edu/

Mark D. Does, Ph.D., Magnetic resonance imaging, small animal imaging, waterdiffusion and NMR relaxation in tissuehttp://vuiis.vanderbilt.edu/

John C. Gore, Ph.D., Development and application of imaging science, magneticresonance imaging and spectroscopy and molecular imaginghttp://vuiis.vanderbilt.edu/

Cynthia B. Paschal, Ph.D., Magnetic resonance angiography, magnetic resonanceimaging of lungshttp://vuiis.vanderbilt.edu/

Nanomedicine and BiomaterialsCraig L. Duvall, Ph.D., Intracellular delivery of biomacromolecular drugs, biomateri-als for regenerative medicine, RAFT polymerization, stimuli responsive polymers http://research.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/biomaterials/Duvall/index.html

Todd D. Giorgio, Ph.D., Nanomedicine, multifunctional biosensors, gene therapy,biologically responsive nanomaterials http://www.vanderbilt.edu/nanomedicine/giorgiolab_home.php

Frederick R. Haselton, Ph.D., Intracellular engineering, endothelial cell function,gene therapy physiological transport phenomenahttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/nanomedicine/haseltonlab_home.php

Hak-Joon Sung, Ph.D., Combinatorial biomaterials and biointerfaces, stem cell andvascular engineering, tissue engineering http://research.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/sung_research/

Research Areas

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