Biomedical Sciences, General
The biomedical sciences are an interdisciplinary field that draws from natural and formal scientific methods to advance medical and public health understanding and practice. The term "medical sciences" encompasses a broad range of fields, including but not limited to microbiology, virology, epidemiology, genetics, and biomedical engineering. However, pathophysiology can be considered a basic science because it explains the physiological mechanisms at work in pathological processes. The UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education Benchmark Statement from 2015 defines "Biomedical Sciences" as "the science disciplines whose primary focus is the biology of human health and disease," which includes everything from the broad study of biomedical sciences and human biology to the finer study of pharmacology, physiology, and nutrition. Anatomy, physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, molecular biology, immunology, mathematics, statistics, and bioinformatics all contribute to its foundation. Therefore, the academic and research activities and economic significance of the biomedical sciences extend far beyond those defined by hospital laboratory sciences. Much of the 21st century's bioscience research and funding has gone toward the biomedical sciences.