The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), founded at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH) in 2000, is located in Bethesda,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. It is one of 27 institutes and centers that are part of NIH, an agency of the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

(HHS). NIBIB programs accelerate the development and application of biomedical imaging and bioengineering technologies to study, diagnose, and treat human diseases. The institute is an engine and testbed for innovative biomedical technologies, which it generates at a robust rate; NIBIB is first among NIH institutes for patents generated per funding dollar. NIBIB-funded research integrates engineering and the physical sciences with the life sciences, building on opportunities and technical discoveries in biomedicine. The institute spearheads development of medical technologies that are better, faster, smaller, less costly and more accessible to people across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and around the world. NIBIB prepares the life-sciences workforce for paradigm shifts and catalyzes vital biomedical advances that will impact healthcare in the 21st century.

Leadership

* Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., Director ** Jill Heemskerk, Ph.D., Deputy Director ** Richard D. Leapman, Ph.D., Scientific Director, Intramural Research

Past directors

Directors from 2001 - present {, class=wikitable style="text-align:center" , - ! !Portrait !Director !Took office !Left office ! , - bgcolor="#e6e6aa" , Acting , Noimage

, Donna J. Dean , April 26, 2001 , September 23, 2002 , , - , 1 ,

, Roderic I. Pettigrew , September 23, 2002 , November 2017 , , - bgcolor="#e6e6aa" , Acting , Jill_Heemskerk

, Jill Heemskerk , November 2017 , January 8, 2019 , , - , 2 , Bruce J

, Bruce J. Tromberg , January 7, 2019 , Present , {{cite web , url=https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2018/11/16/tromberg-named-next-nibib-director , title=Tromberg Named Next NIBIB Director , date=November 16, 2018 , work=The NIH Record , publisher=NIH , -

History

Congress authorized NIBIB by passing the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Establishment Act H.R. 1795,{{cite web, last1=Burr, first1=Richard, title=H.R. 1795, url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/1795?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22PL+106-580%22%5D%7D, website=Library of Congress, access-date=12 July 2017 signed into law by President William Clinton on December 29, 2000, as Public Law 106-580.{{cite web, last1=U.S. Congress, title=Public Law 106-580, url=https://www.congress.gov/106/plaws/publ580/PLAW-106publ580.htm, website=Congress, access-date=12 July 2017 The institute was established to synergize complementary scientific activities and to catalyze growth opportunities for biomedical imaging and engineering research within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

''Then and Now'' exhibit

Visitors to the NIBIB Office of the Director on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, will encounter an engaging exhibit of biomedical-themed objects and narrative displays called "Then and Now". The exhibit, installed in 2016, traces the development of a variety of biomedical innovations from early models to state-of-the-art prototypes that exemplify the NIBIB research portfolio. The exhibit, created through a collaboration between NIBIB and the Office of NIH History and NIH Stetten Museum,{{cite web, title=Dewitt Stetten, Jr. Museum of Medical Research, url=https://history.nih.gov/museum/index.html, website=Office of History and Stetten Museum, access-date=12 July 2017 may be accessed during weekday business hours.

Areas of research

NIBIB comprises an intramural research program, with laboratories on the NIH campus, and an extramural research program, which funds research at universities and institutions around the country and internationally. At its intramural research laboratories, NIBIB scientists develop state-of-the-art technologies to solve research challenges at NIH and beyond. These include

electron microscope An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it ...

development,

infrared imaging Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...

and thermometry,

microfabrication Microfabrication is the process of fabricating miniature structures of micrometre scales and smaller. Historically, the earliest microfabrication processes were used for integrated circuit fabrication, also known as "semiconductor manufacturing" ...

and

microfluidics Microfluidics refers to a system that manipulates a small amount of fluids (10−9 to 10−18 liters) using small channels with sizes of ten to hundreds of micrometres. It is a multidisciplinary field that involves molecular analysis, molecular bi ...

, and

scanning probe microscopy Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a branch of microscopy that forms images of surfaces using a physical probe that scans the specimen. SPM was founded in 1981, with the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope, an instrument for imaging ...

. An even broader range of biomedical technologies is pursued by scientists supported though the NIBIB Extramural Research Program. These span the development of tissue chips for laboratory testing of drugs, biomedical imaging techniques for better diagnosis and treatment, targeted delivery and controlled release of therapeutic agents to specific sites within the body, rehabilitation engineering technologies to help people with disabilities lead more full and productive lives, point-of-care technologies for rapid diagnosis and treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases, and more. The institute provides informational fact sheets{{cite web, title=NIBIB Science Topics, url=https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics, website=NIBIB.NIH.gov, publisher=National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, access-date=13 July 2017 that explain biomedical and bioengineering research topics, such as Computational Modeling, Drug Delivery Systems, Image-Guided Robotic Interventions, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Mammography, Rehabilitation Engineering, and Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. The institute provides training opportunities to introduce and help propel the careers of talented researchers into the biomedical imaging and bioengineering fields.

Science educational resources

NIBIB offers science education resources for people of all ages who want to explore biomedical imaging and bioengineering topics. Among the resources are ''60 Seconds of Science'' short videos explaining various aspects of imaging and bioengineering, as well mobile device apps with patient-friendly information about the ''Future of Surgery'' and ''Understanding Medical Scans'', the ''Bionic Man'' interactive click-and-learn page, and the quiz game ''Want to be a Bioengineer?''

References

{{Reflist {{National Institutes of Health {{authority control {{coord, 39.00358, -77.10131, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-MD, display=title {{DEFAULTSORT:National Institute Of Biomedical Imaging And Bioengineering Medical imaging research institutes National Institutes of Health Medical research institutes in Maryland 2000 establishments in Maryland