Welcome to the home page of the Clemson University (CU)-Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Bioengineering Program!

CU-MUSC Program at a glance:
Who are we?
The CU-MUSC Bioengineering Program is the manifestation of a rapidly growing educational and research partnership between Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina dedicated to excellence in education, and to interdisciplinary bioengineering research and the clinical translation of its outcomes.

Program mission
The goal of our program is to bridge the biomedical and allied disciplines to create and facilitate growth of fundamental understanding of engineering as applied to biological systems, enhance advances in health care through translational research, and educate and train a highly competent and resourceful future bioengineering workforce.

History and Development
Since it’s inception in 1963, the Department of Bioengineering at Clemson University has been a pioneer in its field with a particular emphasis on biomaterials research. With the rapid growth of the field via inclusion of diverse emergent sub-research areas, particularly regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, inter-disciplinary approaches have become imperative towards translation of basic research into comprehensive solutions to outstanding biomedical and clinical challenges. In an effort to cement and provide a thrust to a long-ongoing dialogue and collaborations between engineers at Clemson and the basic scientists and clinicians at the MUSC, the CU-MUSC Bioengineering Program, a research and training program, was established in the Fall of 2003, based on a formal agreement between the two institutions. Since its inception, the program has grown to comprise of four primary faculty from Clemson University, who are permanently located and conduct their research full-time on the MUSC campus in Charleston, SC, and twenty basic science and clinical faculty from the MUSC, who hold adjunct appointments in the program.

Research
Cutting edge interdisciplinary research conducted by our faculty, supported by the NSF, NIH, and numerous research foundations and commercial entities, represents key and emerging niche sub-disciplines in bioengineering such as

Education
In parallel with its research thrusts, the CU-MUSC program pursues educational goals aimed at developing a unique brand of bioengineers trained to understand and respond to clinical challenges and perspectives. The graduate-only program offers its students (MS/ PhD) unique opportunities to pursue bioengineering research and education at a medical institution with access to clinical research and training resources and personnel. On average, the program has numbered 15 or so students, with a current PhD/MS ratio of 9:1. Program students and cross-over interdisciplinary MUSC students can complete required and elective bioengineering courses, taught locally by primary and adjunct faculty and through videoconferencing from participating faculty in the parent bioengineering department at Clemson. In addition, the students can enroll in basic science and clinical MUSC electives for full transfer credit. The graduate educational experience at the CU-MUSC program offers the advantages of personalized graduate education with its small faculty to student enrollee ratios, and a curriculum designed with strong clinical/translational emphasis.

Recent outcomes of collaborative educational thrusts by Clemson University and the MUSC are the MD/PhD and DMD/PhD programs where students may earn a PhD in bioengineering from the CU-MUSC program.

To learn more about the CU-MUSC Bioengineering program, contact the program office at the MUSC at 173 Ashley Avenue, BSB 612, Charleston, SC 29425 or by phone at (843) 792 0430. We look forward to hearing from you!