The School of Medical Science and Technology at IIT Kharagpur, has decided to launch new academic programs and advanced courses to explore the interface between fields of Engineering and Medicine.

The new courses would include a two year M.Tech in Biomedical Engineering, primarily with a vision of giving a medically-oriented outlook to the students of other disciplines. Admission, authorities informed, will be through GATE.

The research areas included in these courses are Bio-MEMS & Sensors, Cancer Research, Regenerative Medicine, Biomedical Instrumentation & Rehabilitative Medicine, Microfluidics & Point of Care Diagnostics, Cardiovascular Research, Biomaterials, Immunology and Immunotherapeutics, Biostatistics, Clinical and Epidemiological research, Biomarkers and Clinical Research Lab, Herbal Medicine, Medical Imaging & Image Analysis.

Also, Joint MSc-PhD programs with Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata have been launched from the upcoming academic session in the areas of Molecular Medical Microbiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Physics.

“The objective is to train students and researchers simultaneously on the principles of engineering and fundamentals of physical, chemical, mathematical & biological sciences, so as to facilitate solving outstanding problems in the Medical domain. The programs will facilitate multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches in biomedical research,” Prof Suman Chakraborty, head, School of Medical Science and Technology, IIT Kharagpur.

The School of Medical Science & Technology (SMST) that was started with the objective to provide a platform of interdisciplinary research in areas of medical science and technology already runs a three-year Masters in Medical Science and Technology.

This is a programme where MBBS doctors are admitted to carry on researches in the domain of Medical Technology. “To meet the challenges posed by medicine in the 21st century, the country needs a new breed of medical professionals who can fuse together medicinal science with technology and can bridge the two disciplines. Likewise, we also need a new breed of engineers with intricate knowledge of the complexities of medical and biological sciences,” added professor Chakraborty.

Meanwhile, IIT Kharagpur is in the process of launching a 400-bed super specialty hospital which is expected to be operational by 2019.