REU Site: Cellular Bioengineering: From Biomaterials to Stem Cells

The REU Site: Cellular Bioengineering: From Biomaterials to Stem Cells at Rutgers University-New Brunswick provides unique opportunities for undergraduate students to perform cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary research in the field of Cellular Bioengineering and develop a deeper understanding of graduate level research to accelerate their development as research scientists and engineers. The program includes strategic and impactful formal programming, active mentoring, collaboration, and careful monitoring of the student experience.

The site includes a Cellular Bioengineering Boot Camp which introduces Scholars to laboratory and imaging skills that accelerate their integration into their research labs. Exciting research projects that rely heavily on interdisciplinary collaboration introduce the Scholars to a broad array of topics grounded in Cellular Bioengineering. A focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship parallels the NSF I-Corps initiative for translational research to capitalize on the potential for new technology that emanates from the research.

An optional day-long clinical immersion allows the students to engage with clinicians for hands-on experience with current devices and technology. Additionally, this site includes a focus on incresing our Scholars’ awareness of the impact of biomedical research and eventual treatments on all US communities. Weekly seminars and discussion groups allow tracking and monitoring of the Scholars’ experiences while concurrently developing communication skills, career goals, and other professional skills.

The REU Site: Cellular Bioengineering: From Biomaterials to Stem Cells at Rutgers University-New Brunswick provides opportunities to perform cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary research in the field of Cellular Bioengineering. The REU site focuses on recruiting students who traditionally do not have these research opportunities. The REU site provides these students with an immersive, 10-week research experience.

Student research project areas include engineering cell therapies, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, cellular imaging, and systems biology. In these areas, students apply engineering principles and problem-solving skills to promote the progress of science to understand basic elements of how cells communicate with one another to perform biological and physiological functions, and to advance national health through design and development approaches to restore these functions in cases of injury and disease.

In parallel to these efforts, students participate in weekly professional development seminars and workshops that build on and complement the research activities. These activities promote a deep understanding of the research projects to emphasize that research is much more than what a student does in the laboratory, but also what the big picture problem is that the student is trying to solve, why it is important to solve that problem, and how the research is aimed at solving that problem in a new and innovative way.

Students work to communicate their research in writing through preparation of mock fellowships and personal statements and orally through posters and presentations. The REU program provides financial support for the students to deliver these presentations at national meetings. To broaden the students’ appreciation and perspectives for the importance of research, they complete exercises in Innovation & Entrepreneurship and in Health Disparities.

The exercises in Innovation & Entrepreneurship enable students to understand how their summer research in cellular bioengineering can be translated to new products and technology and how to identify needs an opportunities that can be addressed by new research and technology and culminate with a mock business pitch. The exercises in Health Disparities aim to inspire students to recognize the disparate impact of biomedical research and eventual treatments on US communities.

All of these exercises are designed for students to consider different audiences and stakeholders when communicating their research, which significantly enhances their understanding of the work and stimulates them to identify new opportunities and challenges for future research and technology.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.