About the Department

Welcome to the Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering. Since our early roots as an option within electrical engineering in 1963, we have maintained a longstanding tradition of advancing biomedicine through the development and application of novel engineering ideas. Our department, established in 1976, includes over 75 primary and affiliated faculty members that conduct cutting-edge research in a wide variety of areas, including biomedical devices & imaging, cellular & molecular bioengineering, mathematical/computational biosystems, and neuroengineering.

In 2022 the department received a $35 million naming gift, among the largest gifts to a department of biomedical engineering in the nation, made possible by the Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering. The new initiative will expand medical engineering research, attract top faculty members and strengthen ties with the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

The department is home to internationally recognized research centers including the: the Biomedical Simulations Resource (NIH), the Medical Ultrasonic Transducer Technology Research Center (NIH), and the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics. The Department also has a Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership Program and is co-located with the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at USC. This Institute promotes translation of fundamental research discoveries into commercially viable biotechnologies to improve human health and well-being. Our faculty are also members of other centers and institutes at USC including: the Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, and the Southern California Clinical & Translational Science Institute. We consistently rank in the very top tier of all U.S. BME departments in terms of research funding per faculty and are one of the most translational and entrepreneurial departments in the country.

The Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering includes two members of MIT Technology Review’s list of best 35 innovators under age 35 (Ellis Meng, 2009; Megan McCain, 2014) and two of the 10 winners of the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award (Kirk Shung, 2016; Mark Humayun, 2018); two members of the National Academy of Medicine (Humayun and Scott Fraser); a member of the National Academy of Sciences (Steve Kay); two members of the National Academy of Engineering (Humayun and Charles Zukoski); and six members of the National Academy of Inventors (Andrea Armani, Fraser, Humayun, Gianluca Lazzi, Gerald Loeb, and Meng).

Our undergraduate program, which began in 1974, is among the most established in the world and offers specialized options to over 250 students that emphasize medical device & diagnostics; biomechanical engineering, and cell & molecular bioengineering. Year after year, the students in our freshman class are in the highest achieving group at USC, with average SAT scores that are consistently higher than the average SAT scores of all USC freshmen. Our department also claims a large share of all Trustee and Presidential Scholarships awarded to the top freshmen entering USC. Our graduates are highly sought after by all sections of the biomedical technology industry and also continue their education in graduate programs throughout the country, as well as medical school and through other health professional training programs. We are home to over 200 graduate students pursuing M.S. or Ph.D. degrees. Our department is strategically situated near the thousands of biomedical companies located in Southern California, a hotbed for the biomedical industry.