Christopher Bettinger
Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering
Christopher Bettinger is a professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. Bettinger received an S.B. in chemical engineering in 2003, an M.Eng. in biomedical engineering in 2004, and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering in 2008 as a Charles Stark Draper Fellow, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in the Department of Chemical Engineering as an NIH Ruth Kirschstein Fellow in 2010. He has received many honors including the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis, the ACS AkzoNobel Award for Polymer Chemistry, and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society Young Investigator Award. Bettinger is also a co-inventor on several patents and was a finalist in the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
Behind the Researcher
Edible Electronics
Integrating Medical Devices into the Human Body
Education
2008 Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2004 Master of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2003 BS, Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliations
Media mentions
CMU Engineering
Improving patient care through ingestible sensing capsules
A team of CMU researchers is seeking an alternative to endoscopies for patients with gastrointestinal diseases with fewer risks and more convenience through digestible gelatin-based sensors.
DARPA
Bettinger joins DARPA as program manager
BME/MSE’s Chris Bettinger joined DARPA in August 2022 as a program manager in the Biological Technologies Office. He is broadly interested in applying bioelectronics and cellular engineering to create new technologies that monitor and improve warfighter performance.
CMU Engineering
CMU and Mayo Clinic to collaborate on transplant innovation
Mayo Clinic and Carnegie Mellon University announced today a research agreement to transform organ transplantation. The institutions will bioengineer innovative approaches to address current barriers in organ transplantation.
Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance
Bettinger interviewed on ingestible sensor research
BME/MSE’s Chris Bettinger was interviewed by the Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance about his continuing research in developing an ingestible sensor. The device would serve as a means of diagnosing eosinophilic esophagitis, and is made of edible materials with diverse mechanical properties.
CMU Engineering
Behind the Researcher
The College of Engineering is known for our cutting-edge research, academic rigor, and amazing students, but you might be surprised by some of the other talents of our award-winning faculty.
AIMBE
Bettinger, Dahl, and Zhang named AIMBE Fellows
BME/MSE’s Christopher Bettinger, BME/ChemE’s Kris Dahl, and MechE’s Jessica Zhang have been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)’s College of Fellows, Class of 2020. Zhang has also been elected as an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fellow (2020).
Inverse
Bettinger comments on Neuralink’s brain-machine interface
BME/MSE’s Christopher Bettinger was recently quoted in Inverse about Neuralink’s brain-machine interface (BMI). For decades, Neuralink has been developing thin, flexible electrodes that could be safely inserted into the brain by a robot; they plan to conduct human testing as early as 2020.
CMU Engineering
Revolutionizing brain aneurysm treatments
Christopher Bettinger leads an interdisciplinary project that could make brain aneurysm treatments more successful and more permanent.
Beyond Innovation, Bloomberg TV
Bettinger interviewed on edible electronics and their impact
MSE’s Chris Bettinger was recently interviewed by Michael Bancroft on Beyond Innovation, a show that airs on Bloomberg TV covering the world’s new and emerging technologies. He spoke about edible electronics, how they are created from melanin, how they work in the body, and the impact they could have on the future of drug delivery.
Correio Braziliense
Bettinger on new electronic healing device that is absorbed by the body
BME/MSE’s Chris Bettinger commented on a new electronic healing device that is absorbed by the body developed by researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Washington. “There are many materials used by doctors that can be absorbed by our body, such as polymers and metals. These compounds degrade in the body with hydrolysis, a process that changes a given substance from water,” Bettinger explained.
FutureTech Podcasts
Bettinger talks bioprinted organs
MSE/BME’s Christopher Bettinger, a member of both Next Manufacturing and the Bioengineered Organs Initiative, discussed bioengineered organs in a recent podcast on FutureTech Podcast.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Bettinger files patent for battery-powered medicine capsule
MSE/BME’s Chris Bettinger filed a patent for an ingestible capsule that can deliver medicine to the lower part of the digestive tract. The capsule is filled with medicine through a small hole, capped with a film of metal, and wired with a battery. When the precisely timed battery charge runs out, the film dissolves and the medicine is released.