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An engineering makeover of biomedical research

Nature Reviews Bioengineering volume 1, pages 154–155 (2023)Cite this article

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The clinical translation of research findings into improvements in human health can take decades. Engineers perform biomedical research with a solution-oriented mind-set, generating tools and concepts that enable the transformation of knowledge into medical solutions. In this light, bioengineering becomes the driving force for accelerating clinical translation and introducing new concepts in validation, prevention, diagnostics and precision therapy.

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Fig. 1: Engineering as the driving force toward clinical solutions.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the advice of T. Schwarz-Romond in developing this article; several EU and German research programs that have funded research to advance bioengineering concepts, including the European Research Council (ERC), the Horizon 2020 program, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF); and the support of bioengineering concepts from the presidents of the Technical University of Munich, T. Hofmann and W. Herrmann, and O. Wiestler of the Helmholtz Association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Munich, Neuherberg, Germany

    Vasilis Ntziachristos

  2. Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Vasilis Ntziachristos

  3. Department of Bioengineering and Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Stephen R. Quake

  4. Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Stephen R. Quake

  5. Helmholtz Munich, Neuherberg, Germany

    Matthias Tschöp

  6. School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Matthias Tschöp

Authors
  1. Vasilis Ntziachristos
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  2. Stephen R. Quake
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  3. Matthias Tschöp
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Vasilis Ntziachristos or Stephen R. Quake.

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Competing interests

V.N. is a founder and shareholder of the medical technology companies iThera Medical GmbH, sThesis GmbH, I3 Inc. and Spear UG.

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Ntziachristos, V., Quake, S.R. & Tschöp, M. An engineering makeover of biomedical research. Nat Rev Bioeng 1, 154–155 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-022-00015-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-022-00015-3

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