Research
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Cellular Biomechanics and Biotransport Laboratory In the Cellular Biomechanics and Biotransport Laboratory, Professor Damir Khismatullin is currently leading a team consisting of one post-doc, three PhD students and one MS student. The laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanical behavior of biological systems at cellular and tissue levels. Using both computational and experimental approaches, they investigate the interactions of blood cells (leukocytes, platelets) and tumor cells with vascular endothelium under pathophysiological conditions such as inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cancer metastasis. Another aspect of their research is liver tumor ablation with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) where they study the mechanical destruction of tumor tissue by ultrasound-produced cavitation bubbles. They also develop novel rheological methods for the characterization of living cells and tissues and use state-ofthe-art computational fluid dynamics models to predict the growth and rupture of intracranial aneurysms. The ultimate goal is to develop novel, optimized approaches for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
neers, and clinicians from leading research institutes and hospitals. Damir has collaborated with many Tulane faculty members including Lee Murfee, Michael Moore, and Sergey Shevkoplyas in BME; Daniel De Kee, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Kim O’Connor, and Vijay John in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Ricardo Cortez and Lisa Fauci in Math, and Wayne Reed in the Physics Department. His outside collaborators span the country.
Postdoctoral Fellow to develop mathematical models for bubble dynamics in living tissue. His next stop (from 2001 to 2003) was in the Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech, where his work lead to a collaboration with Profs. Robert Hochmuth and George Truskey at Duke University. His third stop was in Dr. Truskey’s laboratory, where he spent almost three years in the laboratory conducting numerical studies of leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion and corresponding in vitro experiments. Before coming to Tulane, his last stop (2006-2008) was again at Boston University, where he was a Research Assistant Professor and an Associate Director of Biomedical EngiProf. Khismatullin’s career path took him neering Computational Simulation Facility. to three American universities before he came to Tulane two years ago. He Damir is very proud of his team members at earned his M.S. degree in Physics and Tulane for having several interesting findings the Ph.D. (in Russia, it’s called and some of them have been already pre“Candidate of Science”) in Physics & sented at the meetings of the Biomedical EngiMathematics from Bashkir State Univer- neering Society (BMES) and the Society of sity, in Ufa, the capital of the Republic of Rheology. Biomedical engineering research is Bashkortostan. Damir’s research inter- interdisciplinary; one cannot imagine modern ests were shifted to the field of Biomedi- science without collaborative work. Damir’s lab cal Engineering in 2000 when he came has active collaborations with scientists, engito Boston University as a NSF-NATO
Damir thinks that it would be difficult to describe what exactly each collaborator brings to the lab. He believes that if you have something on the table, it should not be a problem to establish collaboration. For example, a lot of researchers in Biomedical Engineering know his studies in 3-D computational modeling of leukocyteendothelial cell interactions. He has a unique model that can test the predictions of experimental work to be done in the collaborating laboratory. When asked how to have effective collaboration, Damir advises “Be realistic about your research. You cannot do everything, and you need to remember that there are researchers who know something better than you. If you find such a person, explain your research project (with your achievements, of course) and how his/her complementary expertise would benefit the project.” To learn more about the laboratory, please visit the lab’s website at http:// www.tulane.edu/~damir/
Vision
Mission Statement
The Department of Biomedical Engineering is committed to being a global leader in biomedical engineering scholarship. Our faculty, staff, and students are all important parts of the team that provide distinctive and creative interdisciplinary solutions to biomedical engineering research and design problems. We aim for: excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, meaningful and innovative research, and service dedicated to advancing the field of Biomedical Engineering.
Our mission is to inspire and work with students as we develop and apply engineering methods to confront health science challenges.
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