A relatively new field, biomedicine\u2014a term first introduced in the 1930s, preceded by \u201cbiomedical\u201d a decade earlier\u2014incorporates the aspects of medicine derived from the natural sciences, particularly biology, biochemistry and biophysics. <\/p>\n
Florida Tech offers undergraduate degrees in both biomedical science<\/a> and biomedical engineering<\/a> (also M.S.<\/a> and Ph.D.<\/a> biomedical engineering programs), as well as a master\u2019s degree in biotechnology<\/a>. <\/p>\n What\u2019s the difference? <\/p>\n Where biomedical scientists are more interested in basic research discoveries and developing therapeutics\u2014understanding, diagnosing and treating disease\u2014biomedical engineers typically focus on practical solutions\u2014creating new technologies with medical applications. <\/p>\n Essentially, biomedical science<\/a> evaluates \u201cWhat?\u201d \u201cHow?\u201d and \u201cWhy?\u201d while biomedical engineering<\/a> and biotechnology aim to answer, \u201cHow can we fix it?\u201d <\/p>\n While becoming a doctor is a popular career path for biomed students, it is one of many intertwining options within the greater scope of health care. <\/p>\n Researchers make initial discoveries. Biotech companies translate those discoveries into therapies. Pharmaceutical companies formulate the next groundbreaking medications. Engineers design and create tangible medical tools and prosthetics. And physicians apply it all to benefit their patients. <\/p>\n Aside from science and engineering careers, a biomedical mindset has benefits in fields such as patent law (Who made the most critical discovery first?), business (What are the most promising advances to invest in?) and education and outreach (How do we close the disconnect between the basic sciences and the public\u2019s appreciation of science?). <\/p>\n \u201cCareer paths in biomed really span the gamut,\u201d says Eric Guisbert<\/a>, an associate professor in Florida Tech\u2019s biomedical and chemical engineering and sciences department<\/a>, \u201cand our alumni do it all.\u201d <\/p>\n Nationwide, biomed is rapidly growing, with employment of biomedical engineers and scientists expected to grow by 10% and 17%, respectively, from 2021 to 2031\u2014significantly faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>. <\/p>\n Why? <\/p>\n Some attribute the increase to a demand for physicians\u2014as the population ages, more people need more doctors. <\/p>\n Some recognize that as technology advances, so must its applications in all fields, including health care. <\/p>\n If you ask Guisbert, a biomedical scientist, it\u2019s the desire to change people\u2019s lives for the better that draws people to biomed. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is such an impactful part of everyone\u2019s lives,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want to do everything possible to help patients\u2014those with Alzheimer\u2019s, cancer and other diseases. It\u2019s very rewarding because we\u2019re doing something important. We\u2019re trying to help humanity.\u201d <\/p>\n The biomed boom is just beginning, and with proper nurture and collaboration, the Space Coast is poised to become a hub of biomedical innovation and advancement. <\/p>\n Florida Tech is leading the charge. <\/p>\n On campus, we have students conducting advanced biomedical research in areas such as regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, nanotechnology and more. <\/p>\n Administration is investing in cutting-edge resources and facilities, like the new Gordon L. Nelson Health Sciences building<\/a>, which features 20,000 square feet of classrooms and labs, augmented and virtual reality teaching tools and more, and is expected to double the size of the biomedical engineering program and drastically increase the size of the undergraduate premedical program. <\/p>\n \n[embedded content]\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n As Florida\u2019s STEM university and home to the world-class Nathan M. Bisk College of Business<\/a>, we are cultivating the next generation of both STEM-minded businesspeople and business-minded scientists and engineers to develop and market the next \u201cbig thing\u201d in biomed. <\/p>\n With the know-how to attract investors to fund said \u201cbig thing,\u201d are university-affiliated entrepreneurial organizations, such as weVENTURE Women\u2019s Business Center<\/a>. And with the resources to build and cultivate it, is the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design (CAMID)<\/a>, Florida Tech\u2019s innovation accelerator that connects businesses of any size with advanced manufacturing resources and faculty expertise. <\/p>\n Factors such as these, paired with the university\u2019s location in the heart of Florida\u2019s high-tech corridor, have laid the groundwork for Florida Tech\u2019s most recent step toward biomedical renown: an affiliation agreement with Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n In its first year, the affiliation, announced in January, will bring 100 first-class medical students to campus, where they\u2019ll receive a top-notch education from an established, reputable medical school fortified by access to Florida Tech\u2019s state-of-the-art tools and facilities.<\/p>\n In a rapidly evolving industry with so many diverse yet connected facets, collaborations such as these present the opportunity to share not just equipment, but ultimately, ideas, vision, perspective.<\/p>\n Wearable EKG and continuous glucose monitors, biosensors, smartwatches and fitness trackers enable you to check real-time health stats like heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and oxygen levels, sleep health and more with a quick glance at your cellphone\u2014quite literally, putting your health in your own hands. <\/p>\n \u201cThanks to these new technologies, we\u2019re seeing individuals\u2019 health care being placed more so on the patients themselves, and physicians being the guide, but not necessarily the treater,\u201d says Theodore Schuck \u201916 MBA, a family medicine doctor and chief medical officer at Brevard Health Alliance<\/a>. \u201cYou\u2019re going to be your own best advocate for health care.\u201d<\/p>\n Since he graduated from medical school over 10 years ago, Schuck, who earned his MBA in health care management<\/a> from Florida Tech, has seen patient-guided treatment make its way to the forefront of health care. This, he says, is in response to both technological advancements and a general shift from acute care to more chronic disease management. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are living longer. So, they have to be able to manage some of these disease states that, unfortunately, we can\u2019t cure, such as diabetes or heart disease,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, it\u2019s a matter of them being able to determine what they can do for their own health to feel better\u2014whether it\u2019s taking their medicines, exercising or just knowing their status, and then reporting those results to their primary care doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s important that we continue to grow from a technology standpoint. Like any other field, if we\u2019re not making innovations and changes, then we\u2019re not progressing.\u201d<\/p>\n Theodore Schuck \u201916 MBA, Health Care Management<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cHow can we use our current resources to improve people\u2019s lives?\u201d<\/p>\n That is the question Pamela Forero \u201917 continually strives to answer in her work as a process development engineer at Humacyte<\/a>, a regenerative medicine company in Research Triangle Park in Durham, North Carolina.<\/p>\n Humacyte creates artificial blood vessels using human cells that scientists develop into tissue and implant into the body to restore blood flow.<\/p>\n Other options exist: an artificial blood vessel made from a synthetic graft or blood vessels extracted from a cadaver or another part of your body. But these either require additional surgery\u2014posing additional risk\u2014or have high infection rates\u2014because the body rejects the unrecognized materials. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve worked with so many doctors who have told us, \u2018Your product is going to change everything. It is saving lives,\u2019\u201d Forero says. \u201cThat is why I chose this career.\u201d<\/p>\n Her work, Forero says, is never done. She and her team are continuously experimenting with ways to improve the process, working with scientists and engineers in several biomedical subfields with varying expertise.<\/p>\n \u201cTake all the physics, all the chemistries, all the biologies, all the engineerings and apply those to the body\u2014that\u2019s what we do,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s the really cool thing about biomedical engineering. Everything is connected, and through collaboration, you can achieve something really, really mind-blowing.\u201d<\/p>\n Biomedical engineering, despite its many years, is still a new field, and I don\u2019t think we even know all of the things we are capable of because it just keeps growing and growing.\u201d<\/p>\n Pamela Forero \u201917, biomedical engineering<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Before ever administering a therapeutic, scientists can know almost exactly how the treatment will affect your body\u2014not a similar body. Not most bodies. Your body.<\/p>\n Isiah Mossiah \u201920, \u201921 M.S., is a research associate at Hesperos Inc.<\/a>, an Orlando company that uses human-on-a-chip\u00ae technology to conduct disease modeling and drug testing. According to Hesperos, human-on-a-chip is an \u201cinterconnected, reconfigurable, multi-organ in vitro platform reproducing the functional aspects of human physiology, providing unprecedented visibility into how the human body will respond to chemicals and novel therapeutics.\u201d<\/p>\n One application of the human-on-a-chip system involves differentiating a patient\u2019s cells that are affected by disease and placing them in a microfluidic chip in conjunction with other relevant organ types. Then, researchers, like Mossiah, test whether different treatments can restore function when compared to healthy cells, ultimately, allowing the patient and his or her doctor to administer the most safe and effective medications.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonalized medicine is essential to improving the quality of care people get, especially those with rare diseases,\u201d Mossiah says. \u201cInstead of giving patients something that could potentially help them, we can give them something that we know could help them because we tested it prior.\u201d<\/p>\n While other labs conduct similar research, Hesperos is one of few that have commercialized the technology, transitioning it from academia to industry.<\/p>\n \u201cEver since we decoded the human genome\u2014and that was a huge, huge discovery\u2014now it\u2019s just trying to figure out what genes do what in the body and using that information to develop therapies that can actually help people,\u201d Mossiah says.<\/p>\n The future of biotech is having people and companies that are multidisciplinary, allowing them to maximize the biological applications they\u2019re trying to study.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Associate](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Digital_Medical_Table-2265-683x1024-1.jpg\")
Seeking some of this perspective, we spoke to a few Florida Tech alumni\u2014now and forever, our most valuable contribution to the biomed industry\u2014about the most impactful ways biomed is shaping health care, society and the future. \u00bb<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nPutting medicine in the patient\u2019s hands.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Theodore](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Schuck_Theodore-240x300-1.jpg\")
![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Biomed_Hand-bkgd-113x300-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
Improving patient outcomes.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Pamela](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Lozano_Pamela-1-300x253-1.jpg\")
![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/TestTube-89x300-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
Personalizing medicine.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Isiah](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Mossiah_Isiah-200x300-1.jpg\")
![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Microchip-238x300-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
![\"Amanda](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Kahn_Amanda-214x300-1.jpg\")
![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Lungs-222x300-1.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ftm-winter2023.jpg\")