Welcome to
Biomedical Engineering

95%

Of Ph.D. Students are Fully Funded

$77k+

Average Starting Salary for BME Undergraduates

65%

Of Undergraduate Students Participate in Research
Lief Ericsson Fenno

Lief Ericsson Fenno, M.D., Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Dell Medical School and an assistant professor of neuroscience in the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. 

Fenno received his bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience and M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed the Adult Psychiatry Residency at Stanford Hospital and clinics, and he is board-certified in adult psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Additionally, he completed postdoctoral training in bioengineering at Stanford University.

His clinical specialty is the medical management of addiction, with a focus on the use of medication-assisted treatment, including buprenorphine and methadone, for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Leveraging his strengths in neuroscience research and bioengineering, his scientific goal is to design, construct, validate and apply novel molecular and viral tools to understand the brain in health and disease for the benefit of diverse patient populations. His specific research interests include the development and application of novel molecular tools that enable precision manipulation of targeted neuron populations in awake, behaving subjects.

Fenno directs a laboratory focused on expanding the use of novel molecular and viral approaches, with the objective of precisely establishing links between neuron circuitry and behavior.

Laboratory Website

 

Selected Publications

 

News

Texas BME professor Nicholas Peppas

Texas Engineer Awarded Northwestern’s Kabiller Prize

Drug delivery luminary and Texas Engineer Nicholas Peppas has won the Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine from Northwestern University’s International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN).

Published by the Cockrell School of Engineering

Texas BME graduate Gabriela Nomura receiving Outstanding Scholar Leader award on stage

Gabriela Nomura Is Outstanding

The best undergraduate researcher they’d ever seen, a natural leader, someone who cares deeply about others. These are just a few superlatives that professors used to describe Gabriela Nomura. This year’s Outstanding Scholar-Leader just finished her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, and she plans to become a combination physician and engineer.

Published by the Cockrell School of Engineering

A group of biomedical engineering graduate students work in a lab.

Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program Among Top 20 in U.S. Yet Again

The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Biomedical Engineering graduate program ranked No. 19 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-2026 graduate engineering program rankings, released on Tuesday.

 

Research Areas

Spotlights

Discover what's happening at Texas BME

Dell Medical School Building

Dell Medical School Broadens Biomedical Opportunities

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Biomedical Engineering Lobby

Biomedical Undergraduate Program Among Top 15 in Country

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