The Institute for Bioengineering (IBioE) connects Engineering, Physical Sciences, Biology and Medicine, for innovative diagnostic and therapeutic biomedical devices and technologies.

Research themes include:

Synthetic Biology - to design and construct (e.g. to ‘engineer’) biological devices and systems, often at cellular level. Applications range from therapeutic to environmental.

Tissue Engineering - the production of 3D or 2D scaffolds or guidance cues for biological cells. Applications are largely therapeutic and also include new forms of lab-on-chip technology.

Biomedical Modelling and Measurement - understanding biological materials through modelling and measurement for applications in, for example, prosthetics, prediction of failure in blood vessels and the behaviour of bone with ageing. The university also studies the behaviour of biological materials experimentally and in most cases, non-invasively (e.g. via Raman and CARS spectroscopy).

Biomedical Devices and Sensors - working with colleagues in chemistry, University of Edinburgh develops sensors on silicon for simple biological parameters (e.g. oxygen concentration) along with sensors of specific biomarkers of disease and therapy.