UCSD Institute of Engineering in Medicine

Funds the UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine, pairing engineering and medicine to develop interdisciplinary discovery programs.

The UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM) is an Organized Research Unit established in July 2008 that bridges engineering and medicine through collaborative research and interdisciplinary education. It is home to 14 research centers and 300+ faculty drawn from the School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Public Health and Longevity Science, the Jacobs School of Engineering, and affiliated research institutes.

IEM issues internal pilot and seed grants exclusively to UC San Diego faculty and researchers — it is not an extramural funder. Its flagship funding instrument is the GEM (Galvanizing Engineering in Medicine) Challenge, a joint initiative with the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute (ACTRI) that awards up to $40,000 for 12-month interdisciplinary projects pairing engineering faculty with clinically active investigators. Since 2014, 46 Phase I projects have been funded, generating 50+ patents and 14 startup companies. Additional programs include community engagement awards (GEMSTONES), DEI mentoring (GEMINI), a Siebel Scholars bioengineering cohort, and the J. Yang Scholarship for Taiwan-origin students.