Leaves’ Pores Explain Longstanding Mystery of Uneven Tree Growth in a Carbon-Enriched World
The mechanics of how water and carbon dioxide move in and out of plants greatly affects how trees grow in a carbon-dioxide-enriched environments.
Personal, Environmental & Population Health
Duke University engineering experts are deeply engaged in boundary-shifting efforts to improve human health and our environment.
Whether inventing brain-stimulating therapies to attacking diseases at the genetic level to leveraging advanced computing to improve the health of entire populations, the hallmark of our efforts is collaboration with Duke’s world-leading clinicians.
Major Centers & Initiatives
Improving Personal Health
Medical Innovation Development & Translation
Engineering Faculty Research Groups
- Bioelectric Engineering
- Biomaterials:
- Biomedical Imaging
- Biophotonics
- Computational Modeling of Biological Systems
- Genetic Engineering
- Neural Engineering, including brain stimulation
- Synthetic Biology
Duke Research Centers
in the Pratt School of Engineering
In Partnership With Duke’s School of Medicine
- Kaganov Research Initiative in Pulmonary Medicine & Engineering
- Marcus Center for Cellular Cures
Externally Funded Research Centers
in the Pratt School of Engineering
- CBTE — Center for Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering, supported in part through NIH T32 Ruth L. Kirschstein Training Grants
- IGVF Characterization Center, an affiliate of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Improving Population Health
Research Centers
in the Pratt School of Engineering
- Duke GWHT — Duke Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies
- WaSH-AID — Center for Water, Sanitation, Hygiene & Infectious Disease
In Partnership, University-Wide
Externally Funded Research Centers
in the Pratt School of Engineering
- PreMiEr — Precision Microbiome Engineering Research Center, funded by the National Science Foundation
In Partnership with Duke’s School of Medicine
- NiCHES — Center for the Study of Neurodevelopment and Improving Children’s Health Following Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Improving Environmental Health
Engineering Faculty Research Groups
Externally Supported Centers
in the Pratt School of Engineering
- INFRAMES — International Network for Researching, Advancing, and Assessing Materials for Environmental Sustainability, funded by the National Science Foundation
In Partnership With Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment
- Duke Superfund Research Center — Supported through an NIEHS P42 Multi-project Center Grant
Wax Named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
Adam Wax received one of the top honors for academic inventors in recognition of his work to translate research in optical spectroscopy to biomedical diagnostics.
How to Heal a Broken Heart
Nenad Bursac is growing beating human heart tissue in his lab to test emerging heart repair treatments such as gene therapy.