Engineering a Healthy Society

Duke has assembled a team of world-leading engineers, scientists and physicians to integrate a range of genome editing and epigenomic profiling technologies to unravel disease biology and discover new drug targets.

Duke’s legacy in medical imaging and photonics research includes the invention of real-time and 3D ultrasound as well as critical improvements to OCT. Today, our faculty continue this tradition in these modalities as well as MRI, X-ray, nuclear medicine-based imaging and photoacoustic tomography.

Since 2006, Duke’s collaboration with the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation has accelerated bioengineering breakthroughs, turning $15 million in grants into $1.24 billion in follow-on funding and launching 17 companies that bring life-changing therapies to market.

Duke’s industry-leading programs in medical technology design put students in the hands of faculty with decades of real-world experience. The result is graduates ready to make an impact in Fortune 500 companies from their very first day on the job.

The Traineeship for the Advancement of Surgical Technology (TAST) recruits graduate students across engineering and computer science to design next-generation surgical robotics addressing provider, patient, and societal needs through hands-on prototyping and testing in convergent teams.

Our undergraduate and graduate programs in biomedical engineering have a long history of high rankings. Upholding a modern Hippocratic ethos, our students learn within a robust ethical framework. They develop listening, communication, and empathy skills to ensure that every innovation serves individuals and communities equitably.