Students

Specific programs that will play a central leading role in the educational mission of INEM include: a Neuroscience graduate program, a Neuroscience undergraduate program, undergraduate and graduate programs in Biomedical Engineering, MD/PhD program, Physical Therapy PhD program and a new Master’s program in Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience.  

• The Neuroscience program at the University of Miami is currently one of the leading graduate programs at the University. This established program trains students in the areas of basic and translational and clinical neuroscience. The INEM will therefore provide a focus for the recruitment of students, specifically interested in combining Neuroscience with the Biomedical Engineering fields, addressing the growing student interest, as well as job demands in this area. 
  
  
• The undergraduate Neuroscience program at the University of Miami is one of the largest undergraduate programs at the University. Currently, these students take a course curriculum for a bachelor’s degree in the neurosciences. The INEM will complement the current curriculum and establish a new program that will allow neuroscience undergraduates to receive their BS degree in neuroscience and a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering  (BS-NEU/MS-BME) in a total of 5 years. For this five year accelerated program (BS+MS, neuroscience/biomedical engineering), students will apply in their junior year for the Master’s degree, complete pre-requisite engineering courses in their junior and senior years, and have the opportunity to complete up to 6 credits of BME graduate courses per semester in their senior year.
  
  
• To complement the accelerated BS-NEU/MS-BME program, the Department of Biomedical Engineering will create a new MS concentration in Neural Engineering with two sub-concentrations: Neural tissue engineering and Neural Instrumentation. By bringing together students with different undergraduate backgrounds, this new MS track will provide a unique cross-disciplinary training environment.
  
  
• The University of Miami has approved the addition of Biomedical Engineering as a degree-granting program of the MD/PhD program, by which MD/PhD students can now train in the area of Neural Engineering. The INEM will provide an infrastructure to help those students be adequately trained and to compete in the neural engineering field as they also train to be clinical scientists.  The medical school has been actively involved with training PhDs in the Department of Physical Therapy housed on the Coral Gables campus. The new INEM will promote cross-disciplinary programs with Physical Therapy and Neural Engineering. Because these Physical Therapy PhD students require contact with patients, the INEM will present an important conduit on the Medical School, facilitating student interactions with patients. 
  
  
• In addition to these programs, the INEM will promote the organization and submission of new training grant applications to support the training and mentoring of future scientist/clinicians in neural engineering. Currently, we have faculty mentors scattered throughout the University that would contribute to this program. The new INEM will allow a critical mass of individuals working together to establish competitive fellowship proposals to both NIH and NSF. 
  
  
• The educational programs associated with INEM will emphasize innovation and entrepreneurship through the immersion of students in device-oriented research projects and collaborations with industry. 
  
  
• There is a growth of Biotech companies within South Florida. INEM will provide opportunities for professional development of company investigators who will have the opportunity to obtain terminal degrees or take special courses at the University. These degrees and course work will be associated with the new INEM.