The melding of biology and engineering has led to the emergence of a new field: bioengineering. Established by Stanford's School of Medicine and School of Engineering in 2002, the Department of Bioengineering is the university's first interschool department. Its mission is to create a fusion of engineering and the life sciences that promotes discovery and development of new technologies and therapies. A new building will house the department's growing faculty, whose members embody both engineering and biosciences thinking. Bioengineers have an unprecedented opportunity to join the ranks of healers by creating precise and powerful technologies to fight disease and repair injury.

Investigators at Stanford are not merely working at the leading edge of this emerging field: They are helping invent its future. Working closely with their colleagues in a range of traditional departments and programs, from cardiology and cancer biology to chemical engineering and computer science, bioengineers at Stanford are breaking new ground.

Imaging: Stanford bioengineers are using imaging technology to manipulate single molecules, devise novel endoscopes for molecular-level imaging of contracting muscles, and develop techniques to image neurons firing in the living brain, among other applications.

Invention: These bioengineers are also taking established methods, such as biomedical device design and computer-assisted analysis, and extending them to new domains, using fluid mechanics to understand vascular blood flow or applying mathematical and engineering concepts to gain insights into the mechanics of walking and gait disorders, for example.

Integration: The Department of Bioengineering, whose faculty includes some of the world's leading medical inventors and innovators, is committed to extending Stanford's long tradition of birthing new industries. The Program in Biodesign, for instance, teaches innovation to graduate students and challenges them to develop new medical devices to meet pressing health care needs.