Institute for Medical Engineering and Science

The Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) is the center for human health sciences at MIT. An inclusive community of scholars from across MIT, Harvard Medical School, and local-area hospitals, as well as national and international academic and industrial partners, IMES integrates engineering, science, and medicine to accelerate innovation in human health, nucleating and nurturing strengths in engineering, science, computation, medicine, translational research, and entrepreneurship.

IMES’s research focuses on innovation in Biomaterials Science; Cellular and Molecular Biology and Engineering; Computational Biology and Medicine, and Clinical Informatics; Drug Delivery; Infectious Diseases and Immunology; Medical Devices; Neuroscience and Neuroengineering; Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering; and Structural and Functional Imaging. IMES houses and is affiliated with several initiatives, including the Martinos Medical Imaging Initiative, MIT-HOOD Pediatric Innovation Hub, AI for Health, Health Sciences & Semiconductors, Climate & Health, Space Medicine, MIT LINQ, the Center for Clinical and Translational Research, and the Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics. 

IMES is the MIT home of the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), which has a rich history of educating leaders to harness the combined power of science, engineering and medicine to improve human health for all. IMES includes hundreds of researchers in the labs of 25 core faculty members, as well as approximately 300 students and more than 100 affiliated faculty members through HST. The IMES model is devoted to creating interdisciplinary collaborative communities and visionaries who focus, hasten, and amplify the clinical impact of medical innovation through research, education, service, and outreach. Opportunities for undergraduate research are available through both HST and the home departments of faculty participating in IMES research and through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). For further information, email the IMES office.