Boise State adds biomedical engineering doctorate

Boise State University has added a doctoral program in biomedical engineering, a field on the forefront of many advances in health care.

If you remember the Six Million Dollar Man, you know what biomedical engineers do, though it is typically more mundane.

“It’s the application of engineering concepts to medicine, biology and health care problems,” said Trevor Lujan, associate professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering at Boise State.

Examples of medical devices biomedical engineers develop include pacemakers, heart valves, artificial knees, prosthetics and skin replacements for burn victims.

“Fifty years ago, these were all ideas that usually surgeons came up with,” Lujan said. “In recent history” — that is, the past 30 years or so — “they’ve started to apply fundamental engineering concepts to make them better and interface with the body.”

Scheduled to launch in the fall, Boise State’s Ph.D. program has a target of 15 students enrolled within four years. The degree typically takes five years to earn, Lujan said.

“ICOM is excited about the new biomedical Ph.D. engineering program at BSU,” said Dr. Robert T. Hasty, founding dean and chief academic officer for the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Meridian. “It is going to open a world of possibilities for scientists and physicians to solve important medical challenges. ICOM is initiating an internship with the biomedical labs at BSU that will create synergies between our two institutions and advance scientific knowledge for Idaho and our nation.”

Nationwide, there were 21,300 biomedical engineer jobs in 2016, with a projected growth of 1,500 jobs, or 7 percent, by 2026, according to long-term projections from Projections Central, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Biomedical Engineers earn a national median hourly wage of $42.33, or $88,040 per year. Those with a doctorate will generally be paid above the median.

And there’s more to it than sheer job numbers, said Craig Shaul, research analyst supervisor for the Idaho Department of Labor.

“The statistical demand for doctorate-level occupations is low compared with other occupations and does not provide an accurate picture of the economic benefit,” he said. “The true value of graduates of Boise State’s biomedical engineer doctorate program comes from research efforts, which often lead to increased research infrastructure, taking the resulting products or knowledge to market, followed by economic expansion and additional jobs.”

Lujan agreed, noting that the health care market is a huge industry that generates a lot of funding through external grants. For example, National Institutes of Health funding in Washington is on the order of $1 billion, $200 million in Utah, and $300 million in Oregon. Idaho is only generating $14 million in NIH funding.

“(That’s) partly because we don’t have these programs they need to see,” Lujan said. “There’s a lot of room for growth in research projects at the university level alone.”

Previously, Boise State offered only an undergraduate minor in biomedical engineering with about 100 students, a program it will keep, Lujan said. The university doesn’t plan to add an undergraduate or master’s level program, he said.

The department is working with St. Luke’s Health System, Saint Alphonsus Health System, WestVet Animal Emergency and Specialty Center, and the Boise Veterans Administration Medical Center, as well as ICOM, but the impetus for the Ph.D. program was a grassroots effort, Lujan said.

“Where other Ph.D.s have been spurred on by outside industry, this has really been a need of the students, faculty and industry in Boise,” he said. “There’s not one company that said, ‘We need to have it, and I’m going to fund it.’”

Boise State plans to have an entrepreneurial aspect to the degree, Lujan said, meaning Idaho could get some startups out of the deal. Students could also choose an academic path through post-doctoral study, take a job in an Idaho company or go to another state.

“If you’re interested in research and development in biomedical engineering, this (Ph.D.) is the degree you need to distinguish yourself in that area,” Lujan said.