BioE PhD 1st cohort
Credit: Matt Perko

The Department of Bioengineering is a hub for research and teaching at the interface of biology, engineering and physical sciences. It builds on UC Santa Barbara’s strengths in biophysics, biomaterials, biomolecular discovery, and computational and experimental systems biology, enabling fundamental scientific discoveries to be transitioned to applications in medicine and biotechnology.

 Research

Biological Engineering research is yielding important advances in the understanding and measurement of fundamental biological processes, and the diagnosis and treatment of devastating diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and macular degeneration.

 Academics

Advancing new academic initiatives is a primary goal for Biological Engineering, including our new Biological Engineering PhD Program, and the Graduate Emphasis in Bioengineering for PhD students in 13 participating departments across campus.

  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Department of Bioengineering is committed to cultivating an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive community of diverse scholars, spanning distinct backgrounds, races, ethnicities, national identities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, ideologies, and intellectual styles. We value our differences and strive to foster equitable opportunities, open dialogue, and the success of individuals from diverse backgrounds.

We support the social and ethical imperatives to train a diverse cohort of future engineers, scholars, and leaders and the critical role that diversity plays in in the highly interdisciplinary and collaborative bioengineering community. Supporting a diverse department and campus community is an essential component of our educational mission and research enterprise.  As such, we endorse the College of Engineering’s commitment to diversity.

 Leadership

Beth Pruitt
Chair

Michelle O'Malley
Vice Chair

Elizabeth Jensen
Assistant Director and Staff Diversity Officer

Ryan Stowers
Faculty Diversity Officer

Arnab Mukherjee 
Student Diversity Officer