Featured Session Speakers

Professor Michael Sacks

W. A. "Tex" Moncrief, Jr. Simulation-Based Engineering Science Chair
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
The Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences
Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics (Courtesy)
Professor of Mechanical Engineering (Courtesy)
Professor, Department of Diagnostic Medicine, Dell Medical School (Courtesy)
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School (Courtesy)
Director, Oden Institute James T. Willerson Center for Cardiovascular Modeling and Simulation
The University of Texas at Austin

Professor Sacks is a world authority on cardiovascular modeling and simulation, particularly on developing patient-specific, simulation-based approaches for the understanding and treatment of heart and heart valve diseases. His research is based on multi-scale modeling, quantification, and simulation of the biophysical behavior of the constituent cells and tissues and translation to the organ level in health, disease, and treatment. He has developed novel non-invasive methods to quantify pre- and post-surgical state of the mitral valve from pre-surgical clinical images. He has determined the how local stress environments of heart valve interstitial cells alter their biosynthetic responses in the context of altered heart and valvular organ-level responses. His research also includes developing novel cardiac models to simulate growth and remodeling of the myocardium in pulmonary hypertension, the first full 3D approach for left ventricular myocardium mechanical behavior. Dr. Sacks is also active in modeling replacement heart valve materials and in understanding the in-vivo remodeling processes.