In this application we propose to create a Short Term Training Institute for undergraduate students in science and engineering to train in several aspects of biomedical research centered around the theme of type 2 diabetes. The goal is to bring engineers and scientists together in multi-disciplinary teams to solve new problems in health-related biomedical research that have not been traditional avenues for bioengineering. The program will be called BEND (Bringing Engineers into New Disciplines), and will involve ten undergraduates for ten weeks during the summer. The students will have didactic and conference courses designed to give them new understanding of biomedical and behavioral problems related to treatment of diabetes. They will also work in small teams with an engineering graduate student mentor and two faculty mentors, one from biomedicine and the other from engineering, to investigate solutions to problems identified by the program faculty through round-table discussions that have occurred during the previous year. The students will present their results at a symposium at the end of the program, and possibly continue to work on the project as a senior honors thesis. Tufts University has two assets that will be combined to create this program. The first is a history of successful undergraduate research training in several individual disciplines, including engineering and biomedicine. The second is a history of and a developing strength in interdisciplinary research. Tufts is poised to create a program that will not only give students in the quantitative sciences direct experience in clinically relevant biomedical research, but also brings together a diverse group of faculty for new avenues of research cooperation.
