OUR TEAM

Principal Investigator

Dr. David N. Ku, PhD, MD
Lawrence P. Huang Endowed Chair in Engineering and Entrepreneurship, Regents’ Professor

  • BA, Harvard University, 1978, Engineering and applied Sciences
  • MS, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1982, Aerospace Engineering
  • PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1983, Biofluid Dynamics
  • MD, Emory University School of Medicine, 1984
  • Fellowship, University of Chicago, 1986, Cardiovascular Pathology

Contact – david.ku@me.gatech.edu

 

 

 

 

Dongjune Kim, MS – PhD student in Mechanical Engineering

  • B.Eng, Yokohama National University, 2010, Mechanical Engineering
  • M.S, Purdue University, 2012, Mechanical Engineering

Research Topic – Development of Thrombolytic Therapy and Vein Valve Devices

Contact – dj.kim@gatech.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Bresette – PhD student in Biomedical Engineering

  • B.S.,University of Delaware, 2017, Biomedical Engineering

Research Topic – Development and Mechanistic Evaluation of Thrombolytic Therapy

Contact  – cbresette@gatech.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zixiang “Leo” Liu, MS – PhD student in Mechanical Engineering

  • B.Eng, Beihang University, 2012, Aircraft Design and Engineering
  • M.S., University of Florida, 2013, Aerospace Engineering

Research Topic – Complex fluids and Arterial Thrombosis Characterization

Contact  –  zxliu@gatech.edu

 

 

 

 

Gian Carlo Rivera Crespo – PhD student in Mechanical Engineering

  • B.S, University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez, 2019, Mechanical Engineering

Research Topic – Modeling Hemostasis in Traumatic Vascular Injury

Contact –  gcrespo6@gatech.edu

 

 

 

 

Trent Callcott – MS student in Mechanical Engineering

  • B.S, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2018, Mechanical Engineering

Research Topic – Design and Development of a Synthetic Meniscus Implant

Contact – tcallcott3@gatech.edu

 

Former Lab Members

Postdoctoral fellows:

Richard Binns, MD; 7/1/87 – 6/30/89. Unstable oscillations in compliant tubes.

Steven Oweida, MD; 7/1/88 – 6/30/90. Efficacy of a new synthetic anticoagulant drug.

Christos Markou, PhD; 2/5/88 – 11/1/90. Ultrasonic detection of blood flow.

Alan Lumsden, MD; 7/1/89 – 6/30/90. Antithrombotic therapy.

William Suggs, MD; 7/1/90 – 6/30/91. Vascular graft occlusion.

Tarek Salam, MD; 7/1/91 – 6/30/92. Intimal hyperplasia.

Robert Allen, MD; 7/1/92 – 6/30/93. Intimal hyperplasia.

Kelly A. Coyle, MD, JD; 7/1/93 – 6/30/95. Intimal hyperplasia.

Mark Kulbaski, MD, 7/96-6/97. Vascular hemodynamics.

Naomi Chesler, PhD, 8/96 – 8/98. Artery Organ Culture

Shunichi Kobayashi, PhD, 11/96 – 8/97. Collapsible stenosis

Hai-chao Han, PhD, 1/97-6/02. Artery remodeling

David Kanter, PhD; 4/98–5/99. Vascular grafts

Alexander Rachev, PhD; 8/01-7/06. Arterial mechanics

Frances Baxter, PhD, 11/09-12/10. Tissue engineered ligament

Frank Richter, PhD; 1/11-12/11. Fatigue resistance of polymer constructs

Jean Marie Ruddy, MD; 6/13-6/14. Hemodynamics of aortic dissections

Sarah Osadabbah, PhD; 1/14 – 1/16. Respiratory function tests using volume and infrared detection.

Sumit Kheterpal, 1/14 – 2/18. High shear thrombosis assay.

Susan Shea, 5/17-3/18. NAC Thrombolysis.

Qing Han, 1/18 – 12/18. Thrombosis in Artificial Circulation.

Patricia Yang, 8/18-12/19. Point of Care Assay for Arterial Thrombosis

PhD Students:

James E. Moore, Jr., 9/88 – 3/91. Magnetic resonance imaging measurements of pulsatile hemodynamics in a model of the human abdominal aorta. Employed as Professor at Texas A&M.

Barbara N. McCord, 3/88 – 12/92. Fatigue of atherosclerotic plaque. Employed as Teaching Faculty, ME, Ga Tech.

Ping Ping Ma, started 1/89 –  12/92. The role of fluid flow and mass transfer on atherosclerosis in the human carotid bifurcation. Employed as a Research Engineer at Air Products, Inc.

Micah Downing, 6/88 – 3/93. Flow through a compliant stenotic artery. Employed as a Senior Research Scientist at the Harry G. Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Biodynamic Environment Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH.

John Oshinski, 6/89-3/93. Use of magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate stenotic flows. Employed as Associate Professor in biomedical Engineering at Emory University.

Xiaoyi He, 3/90- 12/93. Numerical simulations of blood flow in human coronary arteries. Employed as a Senior Engineer for Advanced Projects at Air Products, Inc.

John Siegel, 6/92 –  12/94. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Flow through a Stenosis: Accuracy of Angiography and Phase Velocity Measurements. Employed as a Vice President at CFD Research Corporation, Inc.

Elizabeth M. Lutostansky,9/92 – 7/96. The Role of Convective Mass Transfer in Atherosclerosis. Employed as a Research Engineer at Air Products & Chemical, Inc.

Changyi Chen, 1/94 – 7/96. Intimal Hyperplasia in Endarterectomized Arteries. Employed as Professor at Baylor University.

Harris L. Bergman, 9/93 –  3/99. Knowledge-Based Magnetic Resonance Angiography. Employed as Vice President, Medizeus Corporation.

David Wootton, 9/94 – 12/98. The Role of Embolization in the Dynamics of Arterial Thrombosis. Employed as Associate Professor of ME, Cooper-Union.

Rebeccah Covert, 9/98 – 8/03. Durability Evaluation of Articular Cartilage Prostheses. Employed as VP of Research, SpineMedica, Corp.

Konstantinos Grigoriou, 8/07 – 08/12, Essays on the Micro-Foundations of the Knowledge-Based View: Human Capital, Knowledge Networks and Innovation Strategy. (Coll of Management).

Jason David Weaver, 3/07 – 5/10, Development of a Polyvinyl Alcohol Cryogel Covered Stent. Employed by US FDA.

David Bark,8/07 – 12/10, Platelet transport in stenotic vessels. Assistant Professor at Colorado State University.

Andrea Para, 8/07 – 5/12, Preventing Rapid Platelet Accumulation Under Very High Stress Shear Stress. Employed by St. Jude Medical.

Jason Samuel Bach, 9/07 – 5/12, Design and Evaluation of a Prosthetic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Replacement Medical Device. Employed in China.

Ji Jie, 1/10-2/10. Visiting PhD student from Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan.

Marmar Mehrabadi, 9/11 – 12/14, Effects of Red Blood Cells and Shear Rate on Thrombus Growth. Scientific Software Developer at GAMA-1 Technologies

Lauren Danielle Couch Casa, 8/10 – 5/15 Role of Von Willebrand Factor in Shear Induced Platelet Accumulation in a Microfluidic Device. Sr. Research Engineer, St. Jude Medical.

Susan M. Hastings, 8/13 – 4/2017. Towards Improved Device Design and Clinical Management: The Thrombogenic Effect of the Fluid Dynamics and Material Surface Relationship. Staff Scientist, Dept of Pediatrics, Washington University.

Joav Birjiniuk, 6/14 – 5/17. Investigation of fluid dynamic effects of endovascular intervention in a model of descending aortic dissection. Graduation in BME with MD/PhD in 2019.

Michael Griffin, 4/16 – 12/19. High Shear Arterial Thrombosis: Diagnosis and Therapy

MS Thesis Students:

Ben Eazzetta, 08/86 – 06/87, Flow visualization of the human abdominal aorta.

Joe Cohen, 08/86 – 05/87, Digital Calculation of Real Time Velocity Profiles Using Ultrasonics.

James E. Moore, Jr.,  08/87 – 06/88. Pulsatile flow visualization in the aorta.

Ping Ping Ma, 08/88 – 12/89.  Mechanics of swallowing.

Marvin Zeigler, 08/88 – 12/89.  Supercritical flow in elastic, constricted tubes.

Catherine Biancheri, 06/88 – 06/89. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Flow in simple arterial models.

John N. Oshinski, 06/89 – 12/91.  Evaluation of the Accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Phase Velocity Encoding in Straight Tubes and Stenoses.

Barry E. Powell, 08/89 – 12/91.  Experimental measurements of flow through stenotic collapsible tubes.

John M. Siegel, Jr. , 06/91 – 12/92.  Wall shear stress through an arterial stenosis and its implications to thrombosis.

Blake E. Larson, 08/91 – 12/93.  Magnetic resonance imaging based percent stenosis and pressure drop measurements in an aortic coarctation model.

Sophie Biz, 08/92 – 05/93.  Flow in collapsible stenosis:  An experimental study.

Elizabeth McClelland, 08/92 – 07/94.  Heat and Mass Transfer in an Axisymmetric Sudden Expansion.

Harris Bergman, 08/93 – 05/95.  Development of Parallel Spectral Element Computational Fluid Dynamics Code.

Brian Conklin, 08/95 – 07/97. Viability of Porcine Common Carotid Arteries in a Novel Organ Culture System.

Stephen Williams, 08/1996 – 07/98. Mechanical Testing of a New Biomaterial for Potential Use as a Vascular Graft and Articular Cartilage Substitute.

Bridget Anne Hurley, 9/96 – 07/98. Design of an Acoustic Device to Measure Platelet Adherence and Aggregation.

Jerome Fiechter, 9/97 – 07/98. Numerical Study of Platelet Transport.

Michelle McRae Depp, 9/96 – 05/98. PVA Cryogel Optimization and Diffusion Studies.

Nathan Brewton, 9/96 – 12/99. Intimal and Medial Alterations Following Balloon Catheter Intervention.

Rebeccah Covert, 9/98 – 05/00.  Friction and Wear Testing of a New Biomaterial for Use as an Articular Cartilage Substitute.

Shawn Chin-Quee, 9/99 – 05/01. Design Verification for Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts.

Casey McIntosh, 10/00 – 12/02, Design Constraints for Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts.

Tarek Elshazly, 9/02 – 05/04. Characterization of PVA Hydrogels with Regards to Vascular Graft Development.  Employed by MIT, Cambridge.

Guilhem Denoziere, 8/03 – 05/04. Numerical modelling of a ligamentous lumbar motion segment. Employed by SaluMedica, Atlanta.

Crystal Gilpin, 8/03 – 5/05 Cyclic Loading of Porcine Coronary Arteries. Student – MBA. Employed by Boston Scientific Corp.

Conor Flannery, 8/03 – 5/05 Thrombus Formation Under High Shear in Arterial Stenotic Flow. Employed by St. Jude Medical.

Luc Felden, 8/04 – 5/05 Tissue engineered vascular graft. Employed in France.

Rahul Sathe, 8/04 Design and Development of a Novel Implantable Prosthetic Vein Valve. Graduated 5/06. Employed by Cameron Health.

Laura-Lee Farrell, 8/05 – 5/07 Prosthetic Vein Valve: A Delivery and in vitro Evaluation. Employed by Cook Medical.

David Bark, started 8/05 – 5/07. Mechanistic Numerical Study of Thrombus Growth.

Jin Wu Fan, 8/05 – 12/07. Time-Dependant Ultimate Strength of Arteries.  Employed by Medical Systems, Inc.

Prem Anand Midha, 8/07 – 5/09. Long-Term Patency of a Polymer Vein Valve.

Tamera Scholz, 8/08 – 5/10. Aerosol collection device.  Employed by CardioMems, Inc.

Peter Wellings, started 8/09 – 5/11. Mechanisms of Platelet Capture under Very High Shear.  Employed by Stryker.

Elizabeth Pavlik, 8/09 – 5/11. Point-of-Care Immunoassay.

Sarah Shieh, 8/09 – 5/11. MR contrast agents.

Daniel Edward Tanner, 8/11 – 5/13. Design, Analysis, Testing, and Evaluation of a Prosthetic Venous Valve.  Employed by W.L. Gore, Co.

Kathleen Carmen Bernhard, 1/13 – 8/14.  Methods to Create and Characteristics of Porous Poly(Vinyl) Alcohol For the Purpose of Facial Implants.  Employed by Dell Computers, Inc.

Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, 8/13 – 12/15.  Design of Maxillofacial Implants for Cosmetic and Reconstructive Procedures.  Employed Vanderbilt University.  Yale Medical School

Tyler B Harden, 12/15 – 5/17. Acquired vDF disease. Non-thesis option.

Jonathan Schwartz, 8/16 – 5/18. Design of Prosthetic Meniscus. Enginer. MiMedx Corp.