Cardiovascular systems
Through the continuing development of novel computational and experimental models, researchers are analyzing the cardiovascular system in exciting new ways.
As the country's number one killer, cardiovascular disease poses a major health problem for thousands of individuals. In response to this national concern, the Whitaker Biomedical Institute is bringing together researchers from across the disciplines of physiology, biophysics, biomechanics, mathematics, systems identification and computer modeling to work collaboratively on a number of cardiovascular research projects.
Through the continuing development of novel computational and experimental models, researchers are analyzing the cardiovascular system in exciting new ways and exploring how those models can be applied to innovative cardiac treatments. The broad spectrum of expertise dedicated to these projects contributes to a thorough analysis of the cardiovascular system from the sub-cellular to organ levels and from a number of scientific perspectives.
Included in Cardiovascular Systems Research
- Developing cell culture models of cardiac arrhythmias, dysfunctional myocardial tissue, electrical therapy, cell-based therapy and gene therapy.
- Developing cutting-edge, multi-scale models of cardiac electromechanical activity that incorporate structural and functional data from sub-cellular to organ levels, with the ultimate goal of uncovering better strategies for preventing and treating these disorders.
- Research on orthostatic hypotension, a condition that causes fainting when moving from a sitting to standing position and is found most frequently in two distinct populations: astronauts following their return from space and the aging female population.
- Research on atrophy of the cardiac muscle, another condition that occurs following space travel, and how the nervous system interacts with the circulatory system in normal functioning.
- Multiscale computational and experimental studies of angiogenesis, the growth of new vessels, aimed at developing novel therapies for ischemic diseases.
