Bioengineering & Life Sciences
A joint initiative of the College of Engineering and College of Science and a key priority in the University’s strategic framework, the Notre Dame Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative will advance human health and wellness through interdisciplinary biomedical research and training—from fundamental discoveries through detection, prevention, and treatment of disease. This University-wide initiative represents an investment in science and engineering — unprecedented in scale at Notre Dame — that will create the capacity for transformative discoveries in human health, especially for vulnerable and underserved populations, and enhance research across multiple units.
Status Update
The initiative recently recruited a new director, renowned biomedical engineer John Fisher, whose leadership will anchor long-term growth. His term begins on Aug. 1, 2026.
Since its inception, the Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative has awarded over $2.5 million in research funding to faculty, academic units, and postdoctoral scholars advancing the frontiers of interdisciplinary biomedical research. A growing cohort of postdoctoral and graduate fellows has been appointed, and BELS has launched global partnerships, particularly with the Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering at UC-Chile, to explore joint research and training opportunities.
With a generous gift from the Berthiaume family, BELS is working with Notre Dame Research to enhance research capabilities and infrastructure at Notre Dame. The gift establishes the Center for Biomedical Discovery within BELS to provide funding for advanced instrumentation and associated staff. The Center’s first acquisition is a Glacios 2 Cryo-TEM to anchor a newly built cryo-EM facility, and it is financing construction of a biofabrication facility set to open this fall. The Berthiaume family’s support will be an engine for multidisciplinary research, enabling cutting-edge biomedical research with the latest technologies.
Douglas and Diana Berthiaume make groundbreaking gift to support strategic investment in biomedical research infrastructure
The gift, totaling $35 million, establishes the Center for Biomedical Discovery. It includes $5 million in seed funding for multidisciplinary research teams, promoting new collaborations among biomedical researchers in the Colleges of Science and Engineering.
Notre Dame Morphogenetic Bioengineering Initiative launched
The University of Notre Dame has launched the Notre Dame Morphogenetic Bioengineering Initiative (ND-MBI), a cross-disciplinary program that links artificial intelligence and mechanistic bioengineering to better understand how cells communicate with each other to build, maintain, and repair our bodies.
Leading biomedical engineer John Fisher to direct Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative
Internationally recognized biomedical engineer John Fisher will join the University of Notre Dame as director of the campus-wide Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative and Arthur J. Schmitt Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. His appointment begins Aug. 1.
Executive Committee
View Committee MembersPartners
Leaders from the following units, or their designees, serve on the initiative's Policy & Guidance Committee.
- College of Engineering
- College of Science
- Notre Dame Research
- Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
- Department of Biological Sciences
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Bioengineering Graduate Program
- Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health
- Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases
- Eck Institute for Global Health
- Harper Cancer Research Institute
- Warren Center for Drug Discovery
- Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society
Additional partners will be added as work on the initiative continues in the coming months and years.
