Roderic I Pettigrew, Ph.D., MD
Robert A. Welch Professor of Medicine
Texas A&M University School of Engineering Medicine
Seminar Information
Dramatic changes have emerged across the bioengineering, biomedical research, and translational science landscape. The steady integration of engineering, the physical and the biological sciences has resulted in (1) significant progress in the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie disease, (2) amazing advances in medical diagnostics, (3) remarkable and greatly accelerated improvements in therapeutics, (4) an enhanced focus on preventative strategies and the digital twin concept, and (5) a rapidly accelerating development and implementation of artificial intelligence. All of these are now focused on helping to achieve the overarching goal of healthy longevity. With targeted diagnostics and therapeutics and emergent vaccines, the potential to eliminate some diseases would seem a worthy goal. This is a vision that is focused on maintaining wellness, striving for precision in earlier diagnosis and efficient treatment of disease. Innovations are required to enhance our ability to bring healthcare to all who need it, inclusive of those that are traditionally underserved. As we look toward the 22nd Century, engineering converged with medicine holds the exciting promise of a deep healthcare transformation. This is beginning with a new engineering and medicine blended education and translational research paradigm where "physicianeers” will be trained to be impactful innovators. The promise is a more efficient way to help solve both common and vexing healthcare problems. In so doing, there is greater hope of achieving the grandest challenge of sustained good health throughout the entirety of our lifetimes.
Roderic Ivan Pettigrew, PhD, MD, is the Robert A. Welch Professor of Medicine and was CEO of Engineering Health (EnHealth) at Texas A&M University, where he also served as the inaugural dean of the School of Engineering Medicine. At the request of the Chancellor of the statewide Texas A&M University System, he served as Vice Chancellor for Health & Strategic Initiatives for the TAMU System. Dr. Pettigrew previously led the US National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) as its founding Director, from 2002 to 2017, where he significantly advanced medical technologies and secured high returns on research investments.
He was recruited to the NIH based on his prior career as a pioneer in cardiovascular 4D MRI having helped develop some of the earliest technologies. Dr. Pettigrew led the creation of the Engineering Medicine (ENMED) program as the Executive Dean for ENMED and the CEO of EnHealth at Texas A&M. Subsequently with the creation of the new School of Engineering Medicine, he was appointed its Inaugural Dean. His focus with EnHealth and ENMED is to integrate engineering into medical education to create innovative physician-engineers, or Physicianeers, who simultaneously earn MD and Master of Engineering Innovation in Medicine degrees in four years. Notably, ENMED students are also required to invent a solution to a healthcare challenge.
Dr. Pettigrew, an expert in health technologies and imaging, holds a PhD in Applied Radiation Physics from MIT and completed his medical training in Nuclear Medicine at UCSD. His work includes non-invasive cardiovascular imaging and research on coronary atheroma and strategies to expand diagnostic boundaries and prevention. He is an editor of the recent book Biomechanics of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque: From Model to Patient, the first comprehensive text on this topic. Elected memberships include the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, India. Awards include the Pierre Galletti Award (highest honor) of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Inaugural Gold Medal of the Academy of Radiology Research, the Spirit of the Heart Award of the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Gold Medal of the Radiological Society of North America, the Arthur M. Bueche Award of the National Academy of Engineering, the Vannevar Bush Award (highest honor) of the US National Science Board, the 2023 Boston Globe’s STATUSList as one of the nation’s Ultimate Leaders in Life Sciences, and the 2024 American Heart Association Research Achievement Award, their highest research honor.