Abstract:
Cardiovascular soft tissues serve critical mechanical functions within the body, but pathologic changes to these tissues alter their material properties causing disruption or reduction in function. This loss can be sudden, such as the rupture of an aortic aneurysm, or it can be gradual, such as ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure. In this talk, I will share strategies for predicting and quantifying the temporal and spatial characteristics of cardiovascular soft tissues. First, I will discuss developing and employing a computational model to predict cardiac growth and remodeling. Second, I will expand on experimental testing and analysis techniques for determining the heterogeneous properties of soft tissues. I will close by discussing future applications of these modeling and analyses techniques.

Bio:
Dr. Colleen Witzenburg is an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also has an affiliate appointment in the Mechanical Engineering Department, Department of Pediatrics, and is a member of the Cardiovascular Research Center. Dr. Witzenburg earned BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. She then completed postdoctoral research at the University of Virginia. Her lab group, the Cardiovascular Biomechanics Lab (cbl.engr.wisc.edu), has been awarded grants from the American Heart Association, the Children’s Heart Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.

Zoom:
https://umich.zoom.us/j/91375430500