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Auckland Bioengineering Institute
The Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland was established in 2001 as a cross-faculty research centre. Its focus is the application of the mathematical and engineering sciences to biology (particularly human physiology).
Biomedical engineers use engineering, mathematical and computational tools to gain a deeper understanding of how the body functions and to make possible better clinical outcomes based on that understanding. It is a relatively new and growing field.
The Auckland Bioengineering Institute grew out of the Department of Engineering Science in the School of Engineering and the Department of Physiology in the School of Medicine. It combines expertise and knowledge from engineering and physiology. The institute is now recognised internationally for its work on developing sophisticated computer models of living organisms. It has active collaborations with many institutions across the world, including the University of Oxford.
The main goal of the Bioengineering Institute is to develop anatomically and biophysically based mathematical models for all aspects of human physiology, from genes to whole organs, and to develop the experimental techniques and instrumentation needed to measure cell and tissue properties and perform model validation experiments. All their research projects have the aim of contributing to some aspect of healthcare by improving the understanding of physiological processes and therefore aiding the diagnosis and treatment of injury or disease, drug discovery and the manufacture of medical devices.
The Institute is associated with two Centres of Research Excellence – the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery and the New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (NZIMA). It is also collaborating with The Bioinformatics Institute, the UK eScience project on integrative biology, and the Wellcome Trust Heart Physiome Project.
This article is based on information current in 2008.
Type
University
Contact
Auckland Bioengineering Institute University of Auckland Private Bag 92019 Auckland Mail Centre Auckland
