How is the Rice Bioengineering Capstone Design course integral in the development of students in the bioengineering department and across all engineering disciplines? How do Rice students benefit from being at an institution that prioritizes premier teaching and research?

Dr. Sabia Zehra Abidi is an assistant teaching professor in bioengineering at Rice with expertise in stem cell research, microfluidics, and disease treatment. Dr. Abidi shares her journey through the field, from research to teaching, driven by her fascination with cellular communication and tissue engineering.

Sabia and host David Mansouri discuss how Rice is engaging students in bioengineering. Sabia also shares her involvement with students in various innovative programs, including through the Medical Humanities Research Institute.

David asks Sabia about her insights on the intersection of bioengineering and artificial intelligence, highlighting the potential and also the challenges of AI in healthcare. Additionally, she shares insights into her mentorship roles, advising on medical device projects, and the unique aspects of undergraduate education at Rice University.Let us know you’re listening by filling out this form. We will be randomly selecting listeners to receive Beyond the Hedges Swag every month.

Episode Guide:

• 03:36 Current Focus and Excitement in Bioengineering
• 05:26 Intersection of Bioengineering and AI
• 07:50 Teaching and Student Innovation
• 12:09 Capstone Design and Student Achievements
• 20:49 Transition from Research to Teaching
• 23:37 Rapid Fire Questions and Conclusion

Beyond The Hedges is a production of the Office of Alumni Relations at Rice University and is produced by University FM.

Show Links:

• Rice Department of Bioengineering
• Rice Alumni
• Association of Rice Alumni | Facebook
• Rice Alumni (@ricealumni) | X (Twitter)
• Association of Rice Alumni (@ricealumni) | Instagram 

Host Profiles:

• David Mansouri | LinkedIn
• David Mansouri ’07 | Alumni | Rice University
• David Mansouri (@davemansouri) | X
• David Mansouri | TNScore

Guest Profiles:

• Faculty Profile at Rice
• LinkedIn
• Twitter/X
• ResearchGate Profile

Episode Quotes:

Bringing medical humanities into bioengineering to solve human-centered problems

08:30: I think the power of medical humanities is approaching problems from a perspective that we're not necessarily trained in. As bioengineers, we look at things in terms of, I don't know, here's the biology side, here's the engineering approach, here are the equations. And with medical humanities, you're really thinking about the experience; you're thinking about these people, where they're coming from, really getting into that human-centered design aspect. And so, that's the power of combining with medical humanities, for example, with this grant that we have together, where students, these bioengineers, actually go into hospitals, and they're looking for areas for innovation. And they're trained to look at these spaces in a certain way, but with technology tools from medical humanities. They can really dig into problems and understand, "Okay, what are the human-related issues here? And are we solving the right problem?"

What makes the bioengineering program at Rice special?

16:25: Rice's undergraduate bioengineering program is very special in that there are many opportunities for students to interact with the material in different ways, both in-depth and breadth.

Teaching as a path to profound impact and lifelong learning

23:09: In terms of teaching, I feel like you have the ability to impact people in a way that is profound. Like sometimes it's just a small conversation here and there. And then you can also create these programs, right? So these amazing programs that are training students do great.