A Promising Prognosis

Health care may very well be the source of our nation’s biggest questions.

How do we stop the spread of cancer? Find a cure for Alzheimer’s? Win the battle against the common cold?

Looking at the larger landscape, how do we ensure transparent, personalized, accessible health care that is affordable and has proven, faster results?

Legislative and regulatory issues, rising costs and an aging population make finding solutions more difficult — and vital. And the data shows we’re not making much progress.

According to the World Health Organization, the United States’ total expenditure on health as a percentage of the gross domestic product has exceeded 16 percent — the second highest in the world. The debate over health care reform shows that opinion varies widely over what solutions we can even begin to try.

So where are the answers? I see them coming from our newest generation of students, who are taking advantage of the strong knowledge foundation they can build and new ideas they can envision and investigate under the guidance of our collaborations between the engineers and medical scientists on our campus.

The U.S. Department of Labor predicts biomedical engineering will be the fastest-growing occupation, estimated at a rate of 72 percent, between 2008 and 2018. In fact, of the department’s list of top 30 fastest growing occupations, 18 are related to health care.

It is not surprising, then, that our Department of Biomedical Engineering is growing rapidly. From its beginning as a center in 1971, it has maintained strong collaborations with five Ohio State colleges — Engineering, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Arts and Sciences and Agriculture. Student demand for the degree has flourished since we added an undergraduate program; the inaugural biomedical engineering class graduated this spring.

While the core academic focus is in the biomedical engineering department, biomedical engineering opportunities are found throughout our college’s academic programs. In fact, we’re finding that student interest in almost all of our disciplines is on the upswing where health or quality of life issues are investigated. Just a handful of examples:

• computer science and engineering: advancing medical imaging technology and developing software related to the demand for better electronic medical records
• mechanical engineering: creating assistive devices for people with physical disabilities
• chemical and biomolecular engineering: developing new medicines or medicine delivery methods
• electrical and computer engineering: integrating sensors in technology so that medicine dosing, for example, can be prescribed on a more personal level
• integrated systems engineering: ergonomics to reduce workplace injury and fatigue
• materials science and engineering: building scaffolding for artificial tissue growth civil and
• environmental engineering: measuring and improving water quality

These students aren’t wasting any time hatching solutions. We are seeing more and more examples like doctoral graduate Jed Johnson, who, with materials science and engineering professor John Lannutti, invented a new technology in which electrospun nanofibers form a three-dimensional scaffolding structure that more effectively and realistically supports cell growth for use in drug discovery and biomedical research.

We are seeing a shift in young people today from a “me” generation mentality to an “us” generation mentality. Health care and medicine are benefiting from that. Students understand that engineering plays a key role in improving the quality of life. We are fortunate that our faculty, facilities and programs can provide them the opportunity to pursue these important societal goals.

     -Randy Moses