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Interdisciplinary Research
Building on existing areas of faculty strength,
Northeastern University is fostering scholarly excellence in four
interdisciplinary fields of technological, economic and social significance:
biotechnology, nanotechnology, sensing and imaging, and urban affairs
and public policy.
Nanotechnology
More than simply being the "next best thing,"
nanotechnology holds the potential to revolutionize both the economy
and our way of life. Northeastern is establishing itself as a pioneer
in this exploding field, which has a projected annual market of
up to $1 trillion within the next decade. Federal funding for R&D
continues to increase each year. Northeastern researchers from the
fields of engineering, physics and chemistry are among the first
to address the myriad scientific challenges of manufacturing nanoscale
inventions, an endeavor that has been bolstered by a $12.4 million
NSF grant. We are leaders in the emerging field of nanomedicine,
using nanoparticles for disease diagnosis and therapy. We are the
first to create a nanomaterial capable of negative refraction, a
feat long thought to be impossible. And we are breaking new ground
in nanophotonics, building devices that make the most advance optical
systems and imaging instruments.
Biotechnology
In the Biotechnology Initiative, scientists and researchers at Northeastern
University are working to solve today's pressing medical and biological
dilemmas. Chemists, physicists, pharmaceutical scientists, biologists
and engineering are engaged in cross-cultivation of ideas, research,
applications, and technologies to:
• Advance cancer treatment without the severe side effects
of chemotherapy
• Develop entirely new classes of antibiotics to eliminate
infections
• Detect and diagnose diseases before they can wreak havoc
• Identify healthy in vitro embryos for transfer to mothers,
preventing multiple child births
Sensing and Imaging
The Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (CenSSIS)
is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center
(ERC) -- one of an elite group of nineteen ERCs in the nation. The
CenSSIS mission is to revolutionize the existing technology for
detecting and imaging biomedical and environmental-civil objects
or conditions that are underground, underwater, or embedded in the
human body. The Center's unified, multidisciplinary approach combines
expertise in wave physics, sensor engineering, image processing,
and inverse scattering with rigorous performance testing to create
new sensing system prototypes that are transitioned to our fourteen
industry partners for further development. A key element of the
CenSSIS mission is to immerse students in efforts to solve important
real-world problems such as noninvasive breast cancer detection
or underground pollution assessment.
Urban Policy and Public Affairs
The Urban Policy and Public Affairs research effort is an integral
part of Northeastern's urban mission. This initiative is focused
on research, policy analysis, and the training of students for professions
that support the well being of our cities. Northeastern's renowned
research centers, and distinguished faculty scholars from political
science, sociology, criminal justice, law, education, anthropology,
African-American Studies, counseling and applied psychology, and
economics are focused on urban-oriented research that will contribute
to viable public policy, programs and support for Boston and other
major cities. Research covers many areas that relate to urban communities,
including:
• Affordable housing for urban neighborhoods
• Workforce development in large metropolitan areas
• Economic policy for major cities
• Urban education issues
• Law enforcement and criminal justice practices
• Major health issues in urban communities
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