Geoffrey Maksym/strong>
Dalhousie University
Presenting in Track 7: Biomedical & Biotechnology Engineering
Presentation Title: Bioengineering Advances in Lung Measurement, Imaging, Modelling and Treatment
Abstract: Respiratory disease is now the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide, and respiratory function is intrinsically biomechanical, as often is its dysfunction. This talk begins at the cell level covering examples of the role and development of tools for the measurement and the role of mechanical force in altering lung cell function providing insights into asthma. The talk then proceeds to advances in tools for probing respiratory mechanics, including my lab's journey to develop medical technology from lab to clinic through prototype to commercialization. Current research includes how novel imaging of the breathing lung together with biomechanical modelling "image-functional modelling", including advances to temporal tracking during breathing of respiratory mechanics that is providing novel interpretation of the mechanisms of disease and its measurable characteristics that are changing understanding and treatment for lung health.
Biography: Geoff Maksym is Professor of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada and leads the respiratory cell and lung mechanics laboratory. He trained at McGill University and the Harvard School of Public Health. His research is respiratory mechanics from the cellular level to human organ function. He develops research tools to probe the mechanical properties from the cytoskeleton of airway smooth muscle cells, including 3D tissue engineering constructs, to measurements of the respiratory system in humans. He co-founded Thorasys, Montreal, and developed the Tremoflo C-100 for handheld portable oscillometry, which measures mechanical function and time tracking of respiratory mechanics, used world-wide for research, pharmaceutical trials and clinically. He has significant research contributions in computational modeling of the multibranched airway tree impedance in health and disease and biomedical engineering applications in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung transplant and recently lung cancer. He is the 2026 recipient of the Joseph R. Rodarte Award for Scientific Distinction of the RSF Assembly of the American Thoracic Society.