Mechanical Engineering Research Seminar Speaker - Dr. Juan Jimenez

WPI ME Research Seminar Series 2018-2019

Regional ME Seminar Series 2018-2019

The Effects of Fluid Flow on Vascular Disease and Development

Prof. Juan M. Jiménez

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

University of Massachusetts 

10:00-10:50 am, Wednesday, 8/29/2018

Higgins Labs 218



Walk-in meeting: 11:00 - 11:30 am, 8/29/2018, HL 201

Abstract

Bodily fluids (e.g. blood, lymph) serve an important role in transport of molecules in cells and the body. Fluid transport can affect development and disease progression. Our laboratory studies the fundamentals of fluid flow dynamics that are relevant in biomedicine, merging engineering and molecular biology techniques to study cardiovascular disease, implantable device design, and lymphatic vessel development.  For example, cardiovascular stents allow re-establishment of blood flow to a blocked coronary artery, however their design may contribute to morbidity and mortality. Both experimentally and numerically we have demonstrated that by introducing aerodynamic principles into stent strut design and creating a streamlined stent strut, the risk of thrombus (blood clot) formation is decreased and a healthier, anti-thrombotic (anti-coagulant) endothelial phenotype ensues, important markers of clinical success.  In the lymphatic system, we have demonstrated the importance of fluid flow in the development of lymphatic valves. Decreased lymphatic fluid flow leads to impaired (or lack of) valve formation with downregulation of important genes, resulting in lymphedema.

About the Speaker

Dr. Juan Jiménez is a Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor in the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts.  He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.  His Ph.D. work focused on turbulence conducting the highest Reynolds number wake measurements ever conducted.  He transitioned to the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Medicine and Engineering as a postdoctoral fellow to study the effects of fluid flow on implantable biomedical devices like stents.  After his postdoctoral fellowship, he stayed at Penn as a faculty member in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the School of Medicine. He is also a recipient of a prestigious NIH K25 Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award.