The Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, or HST, is one of the oldest and largest

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

and

physician-scientist A physician-scientist is traditionally a holder of a medical degree and a doctor of philosophy also known as an MD-PhD. Compared to other clinicians, physician-scientists invest significant time and professional effort in scientific research an ...

training programs in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. It was founded in 1970 and is the longest-standing collaboration between

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

(MIT). Within the program, graduate and medical students are registered with both MIT and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...

and may work with faculty and affiliated faculty members from both communities. HST is a part of MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and forms the London Society at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is cons ...

Mission

HST's

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

educational program aims to bring engineering,

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Physi ...

, and

biological sciences Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside. Conversely, it also aims to bring clinical insight from the patient's bedside to the laboratory bench. Consequently, HST students are trained to have a deep understanding of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

and scientific fundamentals that complement with hands-on experience in the clinic or in industry. Program graduates become conversant with the underlying quantitative and molecular aspects of both

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care p ...

and

biomedical sciences Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbi ...

through the respective resources at Harvard Medical School and MIT.

Educational programs

HST offers two doctoral degree programs. The Medical Sciences program leads to an MD degree awarded by Harvard and the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) program typically leads to a PhD degree awarded by MIT. Both programs require a strong quantitative orientation, hands-on clinical experience, and a focused interdisciplinary research project that culminates in a thesis. HST maintains a separate pre-clinical curriculum at

for its 30 MD candidates. Several of these pre-clinical courses include students from both programs and take place at both Harvard and MIT campuses. Medical students reintegrate with the rest of the Harvard Medical School class for clinical courses. MEMP students take separate engineering courses at MIT and are also required to complete a 12-week immersive clinical experience at a Harvard teaching hospital. A few MEMP students each year are selected for neuroimaging or bioastronautics specializations that have specific training paths. HST also offers a certificate program for MIT doctoral students called Graduate Education in Medical Sciences (GEMS). The GEMS certificate program offers students an abbreviated and structured experience through coursework and clinical exposure that is based on that required in the HST PhD program. While HST had previously offered a terminal

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, this is now only awarded to students withdrawing from the PhD program.

Notable faculty

* Robert S. Langer * Mehmet Toner * George Church * Elazer R. Edelman * Sangeeta Bhatia * Bruce Rosen

Notable alumni

* Rumi Chunara *

David Ho David Da-i Ho (; born November 3, 1952) is a Taiwanese-American AIDS researcher, physician, and virologist who has made a number of scientific contributions to the understanding and treatment of HIV infection. He is the founding scientific d ...

* Mark McClellan *

Peter Diamandis Peter H. Diamandis (; born May 20, 1961) is a Greek-American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University and coauthor of ...

Robert Satcher Robert Lee "Bobby" Satcher Jr. (born September 22, 1965) is an American physician, chemical engineer, and former NASA astronaut. He participated in 2 spacewalks during STS-129, accumulating 12hrs 19min of EVA time. Satcher holds two doctorates ( ...

Atul Butte Atul J. Butte is a biomedical informatics researcher and biotechnology entrepreneur. He is currently the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Since April 2015, Butte has serves ...

* Roozbeh Ghaffari * Bruce Rosen * George Wodicka

References

External links

*
PhysioNet

LCP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvard-MIT Division in Health Sciences and Technology Harvard Medical School Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1970 establishments in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1970