Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering

You will further develop skills through research and other independent study opportunities in partnership with several research labs across campus. Research is often collaborative, involving collaborations with local medical institutions (e.g., Children’s Hospital of Colorado, CU Anschutz Medical Campus) and national laboratories.

• Mines Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MURF)
  Work as research assistants on faculty-led research projects and broaden and deepen your grasp of the research enterprise. See the MURF website for details.
• First-Year Innovation and Research Scholar Training
  Pursue a First-Year Innovation and Research Scholar Training (FIRST) Fellowship and participate in original research experiences coupled with a focus on innovation. As a FIRST fellowship recipient, you receive up to a $1,000 stipend, disbursed hourly, to compensate for your time spent on research. See the FIRST website for details.

As a graduate of the Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering program at Mines, you stand out from general biology majors. You are prepared to work in research and development, applied technical laboratories and the biotech industry. Colorado’s biotechnology landscape features global industry leaders, innovative startups and specialized research labs across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, genomics, agricultural biotechnology and medical devices. Major employers include Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Emerging biotech and life sciences firms include Atara Biotherapeutics (T-cell immunotherapy/Denver), TriSalus Life Sciences (immunotherapy/Westminster) and SomaLogic (precision medicine/Boulder). Technical and research laboratories include the Sequencing Center (advanced DNA sequencing) and Flagship Biosciences (AI-powered tissue analysis).

You may consider pursuing medical school after earning your bachelor’s degree from Mines, including traditional and emerging medical training programs that combine engineering or computer science with medicine. Examples include the Texas A&M EnMed (Engineering Medicine) program, the Arizona State University (ASU) School of Medicine Advanced Medical Engineering program and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. All aim to graduate “physicianeers” who can combine medicine, hands-on device and software engineering and entrepreneurship in healthcare.

The Functional Biomechanics Laboratory improves mobility in impaired and at-risk populations through targeted rehabilitation programs and device interventions. Led by Professor Anne Silverman, the lab investigates whole-body biomechanics with experimental and computational approaches, using motion capture, ground reaction force measurement and electromyography to quantify walking mechanics, coupled with detailed musculoskeletal models to generate movement simulations

Professor Cecilia Diniz Behn applies multiscale mathematical modeling to investigate key research questions in metabolism, sleep and circadian rhythms. Her research group models key dynamics in whole-body metabolism including changes in glucose, glycerol, and insulin; sleep and circadian neurophysiology; and the diverse interactions among these systems.

Associate Professor Melissa Krebs develops biopolymer systems that allow the study of cells’ interactions with their microenvironment and that can be used for both tissue regeneration and therapeutics, with the end goal of improving patient therapies that are available in the clinic.