NEW COLLEGE
OF MEDICINE
TO ENHANCE
RESEARCH
OPPORTUNITIES
WHEN THE NEW CARLE ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF MEDICINE WELCOMES ITS FIRST
CLASS OF 25 STUDENTS IN THE FALL OF 2018, IT WILL BE THE FIRST SUCH COLLEGE IN THE COUNTRY TO BE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED AT THE INTERSECTION OF
ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE. MNTL DIRECTOR BRIAN CUNNINGHAM ENVISIONS
THE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE WILL HELP FACILITATE NEW INTERACTIONS BETWEEN
MNTL RESEARCHERS AND THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY.
“The new College of Medicine will bring clinical researchers from many disciplines
into closer proximity with MNTL faculty, providing opportunities for discussions
that lead to research collaborations, and for research collaborations to translate
into clinical practice,” said Cunningham, who recently led the formation of a new
Illinois Partnership for Ophthalmology Engineering, which brings ophthalmologist
faculty at the U of I Chicago campus together with Urbana engineering faculty for
research collaborations aimed at drug delivery, diagnostic tests, surgical tools,
and implanted devices.
Bioengineering Department Head Rashid Bashir, a former MNTL director, was a
key member of the team that helped develop plans for the medical school and
guided the proposal through the campus and Board of Trustees approval process.
“Microfluidics and nanotechnology as applied to biology and medicine will be important technology pillars of the new College of Medicine—both from a curriculum
and research perspective,” said Bashir, who will co-chair the Carle Illinois College
of Medicine’s core curriculum committee. “MNTL’s Bionanotechnology Lab and
cleanrooms provide unique research and educational facilities for the physician
inventors and innovators of tomorrow trained in the new College of Medicine.”
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