Multiscale Biomechanical Modeling _ Bridging Molecular Biology, Cell Mechanobiology, Tissue Micromechanics with Organ-Level Function

ABSTRACT_____ Multiscale modeling is a class of methods that solve physical problems by considering essential physics at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Many biological processes involve key phenomena at distinct scales and understanding of those systems requires effective multiscale analyses by linking important features across molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels. In this talk, I will first present a wavelet projection-based multiscale coarse-graining method and a potential-equivalence based homogenization formulation with applications to investigating DNA molecular biomechanics. The effectiveness of the developed methods has been validated by comparing the numerical predictions of DNA stretching behavior and protein-mediated DNA loop formation with the experimental data. In the second part of this talk, multiscale biomechanical modeling of the mitral heart valve will be discussed. I will present our recent development of integrated computational-experimental modeling techniques for investigating cell mechanobiology, tissue adaption, organ remodeling in response to disease progression and surgery-induced stress overload. Objective guidance based on reliable computer simulations is provided for the design of individual-optimized surgical repair techniques for treating patients with mitral valve diseases by restoring tissue stresses and collage fiber microstructure of the normal functioning counterpart. _ BIOGRAPHY____ Dr. Chung-Hao Lee has been an ICES/AHA postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at the University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX) since 2012 working with Professor Michael Sacks on heart valve biomechanics. Previously, he graduated with a bachelor and masters degrees in Civil Engineering from National Taiwan University (Taipei, Taiwan) in 2003 and 2005, respectively, and a PhD in Civil Engineering (Major in Structural & Computational Mechanics) from UCLA (Los Angeles, CA) in 2011 working with Professor J.S. Chen with his dissertation on Atomistic to Continuum Modeling of DNA Molecules. During his doctoral study, he received a UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship and won the First Place Winner for the Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation Award. More recently, he was the recipient of a UT Austin ICES Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2012 and an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2013 for supporting his postdoctoral research in developing innovative computational & experimental modeling tools for investigating mitral valve function and underlying mechanisms associated with disease progression and surgical repair failure. Dr. Lees research interests revolve around image-based computational biomechanics, tissue mechanical and microstructural quantifications, structure-based constitutive models for biological tissues, and multiscale materials modeling, with a primary focus on improving patient-specific healthcare of cardiovascular diseases by integrating essential biomechanical processes across molecular, cellular, tissue and organ scales.

Contact

Rachel Taylor
ram59@engr.psu.edu
814-865-1407