Harvie Branscomb Professor Michael I. Miga has been appointed director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE). Miga is a co-founder of VISE with Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering Benoit Dawant, whom he succeeds.
VISE is an interdisciplinary, trans-institutional program that supports interactions between engineers, physicians and students to develop methods, devices, algorithms and systems to improve patient care. VISE was formally established in 2015 after a three-year trial program.
VISE encompasses 21 university and Vanderbilt University Medical Center affiliated laboratories spanning four engineering departments with more than a dozen collaborating clinical departments. In 2018, VISE unveiled a 7,000-square-foot suite in Medical Center North with a mock operating room equipped with surgical robots, imaging devices, and tracking and surgical guidance systems. It also includes a shared development area, several smaller development labs, a machine shop and administrative spaces. More than 40 engineers and clinicians are VISE-affiliated faculty.
“I am deeply grateful to both Benoit and Mike. They have been incredible leaders in shaping the future of VISE, seeing it flourish from an idea to a robust and profoundly impactful center,” said Krishnendu (Krish) Roy, Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Dean of Engineering and University Distinguished Professor. “Their efforts have ensured that VISE is genuinely a collaborative institute working across the School of Engineering and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center to discover, innovate, and translate the next generation of surgical and medical devices.”
Miga’s research focuses on computational modeling, inverse problems/computational imaging, soft-tissue biomechanics/biotransport, technology-guided therapy, image/imaging-guided surgery and intervention, and data-driven procedural medicine. He also is professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Neurological Surgery, Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, and Computer Science.
“I am so appreciative of Benoit for his amazingly successful tenure and successes as VISE Director,” said Miga, who is also interim chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. “It’s an honor to take the helm of VISE and to continue advancing this unique cross-institutional collaborative environment that is recognized around the world as the home of surgical innovation. I look forward to supporting our wonderfully innovative Vanderbilt engineers and clinical cadre as they shape the future of procedural medicine.”
A celebratory event at VISE to honor Dawant—who is interim chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering—will be held at VISE Oct. 22 from 4-6 p.m.
Contact: brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu