Advances in health care and human welfare are significantly benefiting from the role that materials play not only in terms of their use as implants or for drug delivery applications, but the new technologies that help with disease detection which also rely on developments in materials. Research relevant to the understanding of traumatic brain injury (TBI) from collisions on athletic fields or blasts on a battle field, or osteoporosis due to degradation of bone density, development of protection systems from sports or other injuries, medical textiles that help with patient care or packaging materials that provide better food safety, orthopedic implants and limb replacements or methods for tissue fixation or bone repair, are some of the areas being researched by MSE faculty.

The faculty listed below, have identified their primary research in the area of Health and Human Welfare as the grand challenge being addressed by their work.