Rui Zhao

Home Town:  Tianjin, China

Degree(s) Obtained: B.S. at Tianjin University, Tianjin, China and M.S. in Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Current Status:  Graduate student researcher in pursuit of Ph.D. in Bioengineering at CMU

Current Area of Research: Erythrocite deformation dynamics and platelet margination phenomena at high shear

Profile:

Cardiovascular devices, such as heart valves and ventricular assist devices, are commonly used to treat end stage cardiovascular disease, which is the number one killer in US. However, those devices can induce a much higher non-physiological shear stress to contacting blood and lead to complication such as hemolysis and thrombosis. My research is to investigate the blood damage mechanism related to the specified feature of cardiovascular devices. We built up microcannels to emulate the shear stress conditions under “hot-spots”, where blood is undergoing the highest shear stress, and obtained dynamic information of blood damage. This research is significant for the future design and optimization of cardiovascular devices.

Publications:

1. Zhao, R., Antaki, J. F., Naik, T., Bachman, T. N., Kameneva, M. V. and Wu, Z. J. (2006). “Microscopic investigation of erythrocyte deformation dynamics” Biorheology (accepted).
2. Zhao, R., Kameneva, M. V. and Antaki, J. F. “Investigation of platelet margination phenomena at elevated shear rate” (in preparation)

Contact:  ruizhao@andrew.cmu.edu