About the BME Department

A large group of people, including students and faculty, gather in the biomedical engineering lab for a photo and smile at the camera.
Owen McCarty, Ph.D. (far right) is the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at OHSU. He is pictured here with some of BME’s faculty and students.

A welcome message from the department chair

Here at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, our mission is to serve the people of Oregon and beyond by finding innovative scientific solutions to unmet patient needs. To do that, we harness the problem-solving power of engineering. 

As one of the country’s few biomedical engineering departments located within a medical school, we coordinate seamlessly with physicians and medical researchers at OHSU. We collaborate with the Advanced Research Imaging Center, Casey Eye Institute, the Oregon Hearing Research Center, and the Knight Cardiovascular and Knight Cancer Institutes.  

Our faculty are world-class researchers training the next generation of scientific leaders in our Ph.D. program. We explore the tremendous medical potential of artificial intelligence, nanoparticles, biomaterials and other engineering technologies. 

Our curriculum focuses on research. We train students to develop and test a hypothesis, analyze and present data, communicate within an interdisciplinary team, and find ways to make scientific discoveries useful for real patients.  

We’re honored that our program is supported by prestigious grants from a variety of sources, including the government (multiple divisions within the National Institutes of Health), foundations such as the American Heart Association, and industry.  

As department chair, I’m proud that our research has already led to the development of several Oregon-based biotech companies, benefitting the economy of our beautiful home state. 

Owen McCarty, Ph.D. FAHA
Professor and Chair 

Join our program

Your research career starts here.