BioMET - The Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology

Associate Director: Joseph P. Y. Kao, PhD

Assistant Director: Brian Hockenberry

ESTABLISHED 2009

The Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology (BioMET) is a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland College Park. BioMET brings together basic biomedical researchers with engineers to develop new strategies and new devices to enhance our ability to treat diseases.

Research

BioMET is an organized research center under the University of Maryland School of Medicine. It is composed of biomedical scientists with expertise in medicine, molecular and cell biology, optics, applied physics, engineering, and biochemistry who investigate basic and applied problems in medicine.

Current faculty address fundamental questions in bioengineering, and optical biology, sensing, neurobiology, genetics, cardiovascular diseases, cellular signaling, and protein structure. Scientific effort centers on biophotonics, molecular controls and cell signaling with current research foci that includes cellular signal transduction, genes and proteins contributing to Alzheimer's disease, cellular and molecular defects that lead to heart failure and arrhythmia, calcium signaling in nerve and muscle, and time-release drugs for stroke prevention. Other major areas of research involve imaging and fluorescence spectroscopy, development of novel contrast media for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), creation of a new generation of biomedical devices that detect real-time changes in medically important biochemicals.

Affiliations

Close collaboration with multiple academic departments in the University of Maryland School of Medicine,as well as the Schools of Nursing, Dentistry and Pharmacy, and the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park.

Graduate Studies

All BioMET faculty members are involved in a number of graduate training programs within the University of Maryland. Students from other programs, both within the University of Maryland System and elsewhere, may also explore training options with BioMET faculty. Students are encouraged to contact individual faculty members.

Facilities

BioMet is currently housed in two locations on the UMB campus. The administrative suite, along with faculty laboratories (Baskakov, Fang and Vogel) with a secure biosafety level II facility and animal holding area, is at 111 S. Penn St. The second location in Pharmacy Hall, 20 N. Pine St., includes a state of the art confocal imaging core and an animal core facility. Faculty laboratories and offices for Drs. Lederer, Kao, Monteiro and Karbowski are found on the fifth and sixth floors. These two sites are within an easy walk of each other. Both locations include conference rooms, copiers, fax machines, and shared printers.

Industry Interaction

Interested parties from industry, academe, and government are encouraged to consider scientific collaborations with BioMET researchers. BioMET faculty currently have collaborative research projects in Maryland, nationally, and internationally.