Graduation Year
1997
Thesis Title
A computational environment for the study of circulating cell mechanics and adhesion
Supervisor
Jennifer Linderman
Current Job
Instructional Consultant at the University of Michigan
Scott Lempka is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and director of the Neuromodulation Laboratory. The Neuromodulation Lab focuses on clinical neurostimulation (a.k.a. neuromodulation) therapies, such as spinal cord stimulation and deep brain stimulation. These therapies are used to treat a variety of neurological disorders, such as chronic pain and Parkinson’s disease. In these therapies, metal electrodes are used to apply electrical pulses that override pathological activity in the nervous system. The Neuromodulation Lab develops computer models of the electric fields generated by the stimulation and the direct neural response. These computer models are combined with clinical data, such as quantitative sensory testing and functional neuroimaging, to understand the effects of various therapies – why they work in some patients and not in others.
Denise Kirschner is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She serves as founding co-director of the Center for Systems Biology, is affiliated with both the Center for the Study of Complex Systems and the Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics. Her research involves the modeling of immunological responses in infectious diseases, focusing on questions related to host-pathogen interactions. The pathogens she studies include both bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and HIV-1. Such pathogens have evolved strategies to evade or circumvent the host-immune response and the lab’s goal is to understand the complex dynamics involved and develop optimal treatment and vaccine strategies.
Professor Grosh research spans various aspects of structural acoustics, mechanics, biomechanics and linear/nonlinear vibrations. Current research involves Cochlear mechanics (experiments and modeling of the mechanics of soft tissue and tissue growth), electroacoustic transducers, and computational and analytic methods for solving interior viscous fluid-structure interaction problems.
The Linderman group works in the area of computational biology, especially in developing multi-scale models that link molecular, cellular and tissue level events. Current areas of focus include: (1) hybrid multi-scale agent-based modeling to simulate the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and identify potential therapies, (2) models of signal transduction, particularly for G-protein coupled receptors, and (3) multi-scale agent-based models of cancer cell chemotaxis.
Hybrid multi-scale model of the immune response to Myobacterium tuberculosis in the lung. Selected immune cell behaviors and interactions captured by the model are shown. Not shown are single cell receptor/ligand dynamics involving the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10).
Alberto Figueroa is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in Biomedical Engineering and Surgery. He works on computational methods for patient-specific cardiovascular simulation.
Modeling the function of the cardiovascular system in health and disease represents a fascinating scientific challenge. This challenge can only be addressed by combining a deep understanding of the physiologic, biologic, engineering and mathematical principles involved.Our lab uses medical image processing, high performance computational fluid dynamics simulation, and multi-scale modeling to simulate blood flow in the human body. Our specific areas of interest are surgical planning, disease research, arterial growth and remodeling, and medical device design and performance evaluation.
Jeff Fessler is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science – Electrical and Computer Engineering Division. His research interests include numerical optimization, inverse problems, image reconstruction, computational imaging, tomography, magnetic resonance imaging. Most of these applications involve large problem sizes and parallel computing methods (cluster, cloud, GPU, SIMD, etc.) are needed.
David Sept is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and he is affiliated with the Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics. The Sept lab works in the area of computational biology and we use a wide array of computational techniques to study protein, drug and cellular systems. In addition to “standard” simulation techniques like molecular dynamics, we are developing new simulation and analysis methods for application in more complex systems.