This just released from the Whiting School of Engineering Deans Office:

Dr. Natalia Trayanova, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Institute for Computational Medicine, has been named the inaugural Murray B. Sachs Professor of Biomedical Engineering.

This occasion not only recognizes Murray and Natalia, two accomplished members of our faculty, but the excellence and loyalty of a much larger community.

Unlike most professorships, this endowment was not created by a single donor, but through gifts from over 70 individuals (including alumni, faculty, and staff from Johns Hopkins Schools of Engineering and Medicine) who wished to honor Murray’s legacy.

And I am thrilled to say that everyone involved in selecting Natalia for this honor, including Murray, believe she is a terrifically appropriate recipient as she embodies the spirit of excellence that have always been the hallmark of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Natalia, who joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2007, oversees a research program focused on understanding the normal and pathological electrophysiological and electromechanical behavior of the heart, with emphasis on the mechanisms for cardiac arrhythmogenesis, cardiac electromechanical interactions, and the improvement of the clinical therapies of defibrillation, infarct-related ventricular ablation, and cardiac resynchronization therapy using a personalized approach. She has authored over 230 journal publications and book chapters in journals, including Science Translational Medicine, Journal of American College of Cardiology, Circulation, and Circulation Research and is the editor of the book Cardiac Defibrillation – Mechanisms, Challenges and Implications, published in 2011.

Among the many honors Natalia has received are the Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award and Outstanding Researcher Award from Tulane University, a Fulbright Distinguished Research Award, and election as a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the Heart Rhythm Society. At the Whiting School, she was named the William R. Brody Faculty Scholar in 2009.

Murray Sachs, one of the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s first hires in 1970, went on to serve as the department’s director from 1991 to 2007. Under his leadership, the department grew tremendously in size and the scope of the research it produces. Murray oversaw the development of numerous partnerships with the School of Medicine and within WSE. Today, Murray is a University Distinguished Service Professor and maintains an active role in the department.

Congratulations to Natalia for this terrific honor!