The Bottorff Fellows are immersed in the clinical practice of medicine during the early stages of their research. This experience at the intersection of engineering and medicine provides them a unique perspective to identify pressing healthcare needs and create corresponding engineering design and development solutions. Research is targeted to new innovations that have significant promise for near-term translation into hospital and ambulatory care settings, and fellows will have demonstrated capabilities to move device designs rapidly from ideation to clinical use. Fellows are co-mentored by two faculty members: one in the Purdue College of Engineering and one in Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM).

The IUSM-WL Scholarly Concentration in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Medical Technology (BME/AMT) welcomed 8 new students from the class of 2025 into the program, for a total of 22 participants. The Scholarly Concentrations program was launched in 2018 and the BME/AMT Scholarly Concentration helps medical students develop their understanding and application of biomedical engineering for the ethical design, development and translation of medical and related technologies. Students have opportunities to understand and advance the design and translation of medical and related technologies into clinical settings through interactions with engineering teams actively translating medical technologies and well as through completion of a scholarly project. Students who successfully complete the requirements for a Scholarly Concentration earn two non-clinical elective credits toward graduation and an official designation on their diploma.

Monthly meetings with both the Bottorff Fellows and IUSM-WL BME/AMT Scholarly Concentration students are helping them explore how recent engineering advancements could be used to solve unmet clinical needs.