Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1970, the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, or HST, is one of the oldest and largest biomedical engineering
and physician-scientist training programs
in the United States
and the longest-standing functional collaboration between Harvard University
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT).
HST's unique interdisciplinary educational program brings engineering as well as the physical and biological sciences from the scientist's bench to the patient's bedside. Conversely, it brings clinical insight from the patient's bedside to the laboratory bench. In this way, HST students are trained to have deep understanding of engineering
, physical sciences, and the biological sciences, complemented with hands-on experience in the clinic or in industry; and they become conversant with the underlying quantitative and molecular aspects of medicine
and biomedical science. Within the division, more than 400 graduate students work with eminent faculty and affiliated faculty members from throughout the MIT and Harvard communities. HST is also the home of the Laboratory of Computational Physiology (LCP) which hosts the MIMIC II database and PhysioNet.
In addition to its outstanding record of accomplishment for research in human health care
, HST educational programs are distinguished by three key elements:
HST offers eight multidisciplinary graduate degree options:
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...
and physician-scientist training programs
Medical Scientist Training Program
Medical Scientist Training Programs are combined M.D. and Ph.D. graduate degree programs offered by a small number of United States medical schools with financial support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences , in recognition of the increasing need for scientists to bridge the...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the longest-standing functional collaboration between Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT).
HST's unique interdisciplinary educational program brings engineering as well as the physical and biological sciences from the scientist's bench to the patient's bedside. Conversely, it brings clinical insight from the patient's bedside to the laboratory bench. In this way, HST students are trained to have deep understanding of engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, physical sciences, and the biological sciences, complemented with hands-on experience in the clinic or in industry; and they become conversant with the underlying quantitative and molecular aspects of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and biomedical science. Within the division, more than 400 graduate students work with eminent faculty and affiliated faculty members from throughout the MIT and Harvard communities. HST is also the home of the Laboratory of Computational Physiology (LCP) which hosts the MIMIC II database and PhysioNet.
In addition to its outstanding record of accomplishment for research in human health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
, HST educational programs are distinguished by three key elements:
- A strong quantitative orientation
- Required hands-on experience in a clinical or industry setting
- A focused interdisciplinary research project
HST offers eight multidisciplinary graduate degree options:
- Biomedical Sciences MD
- Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Concentrations (MEMP) include:
- Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG)
- Biomedical imaging and bio-optics
- Cellular and molecular bioengineering/biophysics
- Biomechanics and biofluidics
- Systems physiology
- Bioinstrumentation and devices
- Regenerative biomedical technologies
- Bioastronautics
- Speech and Hearing Bioscience and TechnologySpeech and Hearing Bioscience and TechnologyThe Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology PhD program in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology is an interdisciplinary training program designed to produce the next generation of pioneers in basic and clinical speech and hearing research. The program was established in...
- Radiological Sciences Joint Program
- Biomedical Enterprise Program (BEP)
- Biomedical Informatics
- Clinical Investigator Training Program
- Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering
Notable alumni
- David Ho
- Mark McClellanMark McClellanMark Barr McClellan is currently the Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, Senior Fellow in Economic Studies and Leonard D. Schaeffer Director's Chair in Health Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. McClellan served as Commissioner of the United States...
- Peter DiamandisPeter DiamandisDr. Peter H. Diamandis , of Greek immigrant parents, is considered a key figure in the development of the personal spaceflight industry, having created many space-related businesses or organizations...
- Robert Satcher
Notable faculty
- Martha Gray Pereli, Previous Director, first female director of a science/engineering department at MIT.
- Ram Sasisekharan, Director, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (http://hst.mit.edu/public/people/faculty/facultyBiosketch.jsp?key=Sasisekharan)
- Robert Langer, Institute Professor, MIT (http://web.mit.edu/langerlab/langer.html)
- Mehmet TonerMehmet TonerMehmet Toner, PhD is a Turkish biomedical engineer. A professor of surgery at the Harvard Medical School and professor of biomedical engineering at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology , Toner first gained prominence for his theory of intra-cellular ice formation while...
, Professor (http://hst.mit.edu/public/people/faculty/facultyBiosketch.jsp?key=Toner) - George ChurchGeorge ChurchGeorge Church is an American molecular geneticist. He is currently Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT, and a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.With...
, Professor (http://arep.med.harvard.edu/gmc/) - Roger Mark, Professor (http://hst.mit.edu/public/people/faculty/facultyBiosketch.jsp?key=Mark)
- Elazer Edelman, Professor (http://web.mit.edu/hst-program/erelab/)
External links
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (official web site)
- HST News & Events
- This Week in HST (TWiHST)
- PhysioNet
- LCP