The Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, or HST, is one of the oldest and largest

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

and

physician-scientist A physician-scientist is traditionally a holder of a medical degree and a doctor of philosophy also known as an MD-PhD. Compared to other clinicians, physician-scientists invest significant time and professional effort in scientific research and ...

training programs Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was founded in 1970 and is the longest-standing collaboration between

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). Within the program, graduate and medical students are registered with both

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and may work with faculty and affiliated faculty members from both communities. HST is a part of MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and forms the London Society at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

Mission

HST's

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

educational program aims to bring engineering,

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Phy ...

, and

biological sciences Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside. Conversely, it also aims to bring clinical insight from the patient's bedside to the laboratory bench. Consequently, HST students are trained to have a deep understanding of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and scientific fundamentals that complement with hands-on experience in the clinic or in industry. Program graduates become conversant with the underlying quantitative and molecular aspects of both

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

and

biomedical sciences Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbio ...

through the respective resources at Harvard Medical School and MIT.

Educational programs

HST offers two doctoral degree programs. The Medical Sciences program leads to an MD degree awarded by Harvard and the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) program typically leads to a PhD degree awarded by MIT. Both programs require a strong quantitative orientation, hands-on clinical experience, and a focused interdisciplinary research project that culminates in a thesis. HST maintains a separate pre-clinical curriculum at

for its 30 MD candidates. Several of these pre-clinical courses include students from both programs and take place at both Harvard and MIT campuses. Medical students reintegrate with the rest of the Harvard Medical School class for clinical courses. MEMP students take separate engineering courses at MIT and are also required to complete a 12-week immersive clinical experience at a Harvard teaching hospital. A few MEMP students each year are selected for neuroimaging or bioastronautics specializations that have specific training paths. HST also offers a certificate program for MIT doctoral students called Graduate Education in Medical Sciences (GEMS). The GEMS certificate program offers students an abbreviated and structured experience through coursework and clinical exposure that is based on that required in the HST PhD program. While HST had previously offered a terminal

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, this is now only awarded to students withdrawing from the PhD program.

Notable faculty

* Robert S. Langer *

Mehmet Toner Mehmet Toner (born 1958) is a Turkish biomedical engineer. He is currently the Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School, with a joint appointment as professor at the Harvard-M ...

* George Church * Elazer R. Edelman * Sangeeta Bhatia *

Bruce Rosen Bruce Rosen is an American physicist and radiologist and a leading expert in the area of functional neuroimaging. His research for the past 30 years has focused on the development and application of physiological and functional nuclear magnetic re ...

Notable alumni

* Rumi Chunara * David Ho * Mark McClellan *

Peter Diamandis Peter H. Diamandis (; born May 20, 1961) is a Greek Americans, Greek-American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University a ...

* Robert Satcher *

Atul Butte Atul J. Butte is a biomedical informatics researcher and biotechnology entrepreneur. He is currently the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Since April 2015, Butte has serves ...

Roozbeh Ghaffari Roozbeh Ghaffari is a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist. He is currently CEO and co-founder of Epicore Biosystems, research associate professor at Northwestern University's Biomedical Engineering Department, and Director of Translational Re ...

* George Wodicka

References

External links

*
PhysioNet

LCP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvard-MIT Division in Health Sciences and Technology Harvard Medical School Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1970 establishments in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1970