Bioengineering

Chair: Robin Shandas
Denver Office: North Classroom 2204
Anschutz Office: Bioscience 2, 12705 E. Montview Blvd., Aurora, CO 80022
Telephone: 303-556-5838
Fax: 303-724-5800
E-mail: bioengineering@ucdenver.edu

Faculty

Core Faculty

Robin Shandas, PhD
Professor
robin.shandas@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Novel methods for translational bioengineering

Richard Benninger, PhD
Assistant Professor
richard.benninger@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Optical microscopy, pancreatic islet biology and biophysics, diabetes

Cathy Bodine, PhD
Associate Professor
cathy.bodine@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Assistive technology, rehabilitation engineering

Emily Gibson, PhD
Assistant Professor
emily.gibson@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Microfluidics technology, optical microscopy, and spectroscopy

Jeffrey Jacot, PhD
Associate Professor
jeffrey.jacot@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Stem cells and heart tissue engineering

Vitaly Kheyfets, PhD
Assistant Research Professor
vitaly.kheyfets@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Vascular/ventricular function, cellular metabolism in cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary hypertension

Cassandra Howard, MSC
Instructor
cassandra.howard@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Medical device innovation and biodesign

Kendall Hunter, PhD
Associate Professor
kendall.hunter@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Soft tissue mechanics, vascular and cardiac imaging diagnostics, translational biomechanics

Steven Lammers, PhD
Instructor
steven.lammers@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: 3D printing & design, bioprintable materials, tissue engineering of 3D cellularized scaffolds

Craig Lanning, MS
Research Instructor
craig.lanning@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Digital manufacturing, reverse engineering, medical device and software design

Chelsea Magin, PhD
Assistant Professor
chelsea.magin@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Bio-inspired materials for tissue engineering, R & D product development

Daewon Park, PhD
Assistant Professor
daewon.park@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Biomaterials, drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Levin Sliker, PhD
Assistant Professor - Research
levin.sliker@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Wheelchair biomechanics, socially assistive robotics, and cognitive technology for the disabled working population

Bradford Smith, PhD
Assistant Professor
bradford.smith@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Lung structure-function relationships, optimized mechanical ventilation, and high performance computing

Jennifer Wagner
Instructor
jennifer.wagner@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Medical imaging, 3D modeling, surgical guides/tools, tissue engineering, and material characterization

Richard Weir, PhD
Research Associate Professor
richard.weir@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Neural engineering, biomechatronic design, and rehabilitation engineering

Michael Yeager
Assistant Professor
michael.yeager@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Cardiopulmonary disease, autoimmunity, in vivo cell lineage tracing & imaging

Bryan Yunker, PhD
Research Instructor
bryan.yunker@ucdenver.edu
Specialties: Product design & development, product marketing, intellectual property, reconstructing physical anatomy in virtual reality

Affiliated Faculty

Students receive instruction from affiliate faculty in the University of Colorado system, including CU Boulder and the CU School of Medicine. Faculty research areas include Imaging and Biophotonics; Cardiovascular Biomechanics and Hemodynamics; Orthopedic Biomechanics; Surgery; Ophthalmology; and Neuroscience Engineering.

Mission Statement

The Department of Bioengineering bridges the fields of engineering and medicine with a core mission of applying engineering principles and analyses to improving human health. The department will fulfill this mission by providing opportunities for training, research, and service in bioengineering to faculty, students, and residents of Colorado and the greater Rocky Mountain region.

Program Objectives

The Department of Bioengineering offers high quality training in bioengineering that is both flexible and multidisciplinary. A design-based focus permeates every aspect of our training philosophy which can be summarized by the following question: what does the user want and how can I best utilize my bioengineering training to achieve this need? Our academic instruction focuses on developing core competencies in life sciences, quantitative methods, technology, and research methods.

Undergraduate Information

The program offers a bachelor of science (BS) degree in bioengineering. All undergraduate students begin the program as bioengineering premajors. In consultation with faculty advisors, each student chooses elective courses, training pathways, and research to fit talents, preparation, and career plans.

The BS in bioengineering degree will prepare students for careers in the biomedical industry, in hospital, government, or academic research labs, in regulatory agencies such as the FDA, and for further education in graduate school, medical school, or other advanced health sciences program.

The minimum of 128 semester hours is required to earn the BS degree, including 56 credits in bioengineering premajor coursework and 24 credits in general education core at the Denver campus. This training is complimented by 48 credits in the upper-level bioengineering major and track specialization courses at the Anschutz Medical Campus.

All students interested in bioengineering will commence their studies in the department as pre-majors. Admittance to the major will be granted to students who have successfully completed all pre-major courses and who meet the program’s selection criteria.