Engineering in Medicine for a Global Society

The biomedical research landscape has experienced remarkable changes over the past decades, made possible by impressive innovations that have emerged from trans-disciplinary science. These innovations set the stage for more precise, patient-oriented diagnostic, treatment and prevention strategies. These depended on 1) advances in our fundamental knowledge of molecular and cell interactions in health and disease, 2) continued improvements in diagnostics across all biophysical scales, and 3) more targeted therapeutic approaches including directing the body’s own immune system. Technological advances at the interface of engineering and the physical and life sciences promise new discoveries that can be turned into health through translational research. Twenty-first century challenges include global access to modern medicine, chronic disease from an aging population, the impact of a hyper-connected world, capitalizing on advances in molecular and genomic science, and realizing efficient delivery of healthcare where a conceptual value metric to be optimized for innovations is [Utility/ Cost x Complexity].  The overarching goal is precision medicine where the vision is that “the right treatment is given to the right patient at the right time.”  To this end, more efficient, sensitive and quantitative tools are expected to make remarkable improvements in healthcare delivery as the 21^st century progresses and medicine becomes increasingly more precise. Making sure these advances are available to everyone has been and remains a global challenge. It is also important that as advances are made in acquiring personalized data both actively and passively, actionable aspects of this information need to be returned to the individual to realize greater effectiveness through more patient-centric healthcare.