HOW TO APPLY

  • To apply for admission to the Atlanta campus, click here.
  • To apply for admission to the PKU campus, click here.

A New Paradigm for Global Biomedical Engineering

An intensively competitive global economy has emerged over the past decade, creating an environment where innovation is critical to success. Such innovation demands that students and faculties have a deep understanding of international cultures, business, and societies. This is especially true in China, not just in terms of academia, but also in terms of clinical and translational research. Opportunities abound for Sino-American collaborations, especially in the fields of technology and the health sciences. To meet the needs of a rapidly changing society and global economy, three internationally renowned institutions, Peking University, Emory University and The Georgia Institute of Technology, have forged an unprecedented partnership in biomedical engineering.

This partnership provides the opportunity to create a new paradigm for global biomedical engineering education and research. The program offers a unique means for U.S. and Chinese students who want to learn and work in a global economy and in global health settings. Program graduates will be prepared to become global leaders of innovation who can contribute to cultural, political, economic and health concerns in their home countries and around the world.

Program planners could not have found a better partner than Peking University:

Founded in 1898, Peking University (PKU) is among the first national universities in Chinese modern history. PKU enjoys an outstanding reputation within and outside of China, based on its abundant teaching resources and outstanding research achievements. Peking University now consists of 31 colleges and 14 departments, offering 101 undergraduate programs, 224 postgraduate programs, and 202 doctoral programs. The student body includes over 4000 international students from about 80 countries.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Students apply to the program through the school designated as the home campus, either the Department of Biomedical Engineering at PKU in Beijing or the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory in Atlanta. Students will have an advisor at the home campus and co-advisor at the secondary campus. Most of the classes and research will take place on the home campus. However, students will also spend at least one year taking classes and participating in research in the co-advisor's lab on the secondary campus. Most classes will be taught in English and a single dissertation will satisfy the thesis requirements of all three institutions. Students will be fully supported as long as they maintain satisfactory progress in the program. For details regarding program requirements, click here.

Research

Faculty on both campuses will expand their research efforts by conducting collaborative research that will include the students enrolled in the joint program. The Coulter Foundation has funded a five-year seed grant program to foster collaborative research in the partnership institutions. Six of these projects are currently underway led by teams with one principal investigator in Atlanta and one in Beijing. Students will have the opportunity to participate in lab rotations during the first academic year at their home campus or to select or create research projects for themselves with collaborators on the secondary campus. Students can create new research projects with any BME faculty on both campuses, as long as they agree to it.

Examples of these research grants include:

  • Professors Jing Fang and Xiaoping Hu: Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling with an Independent Labeling Coil for Kidney Perfusion Imaging
  • Professors Zigang Ge and Todd McDevitt: Spatial-Temporal Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells with Engineering Technologies and Molecular Biology Synergistically
  • Professors Yijun Liu and May Wang: Neuroimaging and Biomedical Informatics Integration for Risky Factors Analysis and Treatment of Developmental Disorders
  • Professors Ying Luo and Niren Murthy: Multifunctional Proflavine-Hyaluronic Acid Conjugate (PHC): A new siRNA delivery vehicle for treating lung cancer
  • Professors Shuming Nie and Peng Xi: Super-resolution Imaging of Cellular Dynamics with Quantum Dots and STED
  • Professors Julia Babensee and Ying Luo: Carbohydrate Microarrays for High-Throughput Analysis of Dendritic Cell-Glycan Interactions
  • Professors Hanjoong Jo and Jianzhong Xi: Development of genome-wide functional high-throughput assays using siRNA arrays with a microfluidic device
  • Professors Barbara D. Boyan and Haifeng Chen: Nanostructure at Bone Cell/Material Interface
  • Professors Huaiqiu Zhu and Mark Borodovsky: New gene finding methods for shotgun DNA sequences of microbial communities coexisting with a human host
  • Professors Xiaoping Hu and Jue Zhang: Quantitative fMRI of Acupuncture Induced Brain Activity
  • Professors Ravi Bellamkonda and Chunyang Xiong: The effects of CSPG mediated inhibition on neuronal cell signaling and cytoskeletal mechanics
  • Professors Robert Guldberg and Zigang Ge: Cartilage Regeneration with Functional Biomaterials and Quantitative Assessment of Regeneration
  • Professors Niren Murthy and Ying Luo: Multifunctional Polyketal Nanoparticles: A new siRNA delivery vehicle for treating lung cancer
  • Professors Gang Bao and Changhui Li: Developing novel imaging methods for early detection of atherosclerosis with bio-conjugated nanoparticles

For more information on the Georgia Tech/Emory/Peking University Joint Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, please contact Shannon Sullivan.

To visit the Chinese website, please click here.