Cleveland Clinic and UTEC sign agreement to develop academic and research programs in biomedical engineering

• This North American healthcare institution is ranked N° 1 in cardiology and urology in the USA, according to ratings published by the News & World Report. 
• Specialists from the Cleveland Clinic held a joint conference in our country with UTEC. 

For the first time, the prominent Cleveland Clinic- ranked N° 1 in cardiology and urology in the USA, according to ratings published by the News & World Report – is entering into an international agreement to develop and promote academic and research programs in Biomedical Engineering in Peru and it is doing so in conjunction with Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC).

Cleveland Clinic representatives attended the conference in addition to a number of different Peruvian specialists in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery, biomedical imaging, urology, gynecology, orthopedics, rehabilitation, bioinformatics, tissue engineering and nanotechnology.

“Biomedical engineering creates opportunities to improve the quality of the lives of patients who are suffering from a variety of diseases, and it is for this reason that at UTEC we are conducting applied research jointly with Cleveland Clinic where we aim to develop low cost devices which can be used in various regions throughout the country and to provide academic specialization programs in this field to doctors and engineers who wish to specialize in this field, an area that is projected to offer the opportunity for an exciting career, says Alberto Bejarano, General Academic Director at UTEC.  

The Cleveland Clinic delegation consisted of the following professionals: Geoffrey Vince, Director Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cleveland Clinic; Bishoy Mikhail, Executive Director, Philanthropy; among other prominent researchers such as Gregory Clement, ultrasound specialist; Margot Damaser, specialist in urology; Kathleen Derwin, specialist in tissue engineering; Ahmet Erdemir, specialist in simulations and bioinformatics: Aaron Fleishman, specialist in micro-electromechanical systems applied to biomedicine and Anand Ramamurthi, specialist in tissue regeneration, who shared information with the medical and scientific community regarding the projects they have been working on, their applications and how they can be used in Peru.

“This is the first time that we have signed an international agreement to develop and promote academic and research programs in Biomedical Engineering.  We are entering into an agreement with UTEC because we are fascinated by their disruptive academic model and holistic approach to educating engineers, where students are encouraged to seek out solutions to real world problems and where they receive a very solid foundation in physics, chemistry and biology, supplemented by art, language, communication and English, the language most used in science and technology” says Geoffrey Vince, Director of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cleveland Clinic.

Vince adds that “innovation occurs when different fields of study come together.  It is when engineers, biologists and physicians work together that real progress is made in the field of Biomedical Engineering, a discipline that focuses on improving the lives of patients and curing different diseases”. 

About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit multispecialty medical center that combines a research and academic culture within a hospital healthcare services environment.  It is currently ranked among the four top hospitals in the United States according to ratings published by the US News and World Report.  Founded in 1921, its guiding principle is “The patient comes first”; the physicians at Cleveland Clinic do not practice their professions privately and contribute their knowledge for the benefit of the community.