REU Site: BME Community of Undergraduate Research Scholars for Cancer (BME CUReS Cancer)

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The BME Community of Undergraduate Research Scholars for Cancer (BME CUReS Cancer) REU Site at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin will provide opportunities for a diverse group of talented undergraduates traditionally underrepresented in engineering to make contributions towards the fundamental understanding of the physical principles of cancer development, prevention, and treatment during a ten-week summer research experience. An aim of this research experience is that the Scholars will be inspired to go on in their careers to function in multi-disciplinary teams of researchers from disparate fields in engineering, medicine, biological science, physical science, and healthcare fields to advance human health. The Site's partnership with the UT Medical School and Texas 4000, a non-profit organization that cultivates student leaders and engages communities in the fight against cancer, will help to increase public awareness of cancer research, in particular how physical science and engineering positively impact healthcare.Cancer is a disease of complexity and engineering principles in particular are developed to study, model, and solve complex problems. The scientific theme of the BME CUReS Cancer Site is leveraging Biomedical Engineering to Open a New Frontier in Oncology. BME CUReS Cancer Scholars will be matched with a project of appropriate scope from 35 different laboratories representing a wide range of research topics pertinent to cancer research, such as biomaterials, drug delivery, optical imaging, medical imaging, and artificial intelligence in medicine. These topics were selected in response to the barriers to achieving progress in cancer research that have been identified by the National Cancer Institute. It is now broadly recognized that understanding how the range of physical laws and principles governing the behavior of all matter are operative in cancer at every scale will be critical to understanding and controlling cancer. Cancer is a disease of complexity and engineering principles in particular are developed to study, model, and solve complex problems. Biomedical Engineering is uniquely poised to make a significant intellectual contribution to addressing these key challenges in cancerresearch using an engineering approach.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.