Meet The Speaker
“Crossing the valley of death: Taking engineering to the Cardiac Bedside”
Rob MacLeod was trained in physics, electrical engineering, and physiology & biophysics and is a full professor of Bioengineering and Internal Medicine (Cardiology) at the University of Utah. He is an associate director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute and the Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute (CVRTI). He is also an associate chairman and director of the undergraduate program in Biomedical Engineering and co-founder of the Center for Arrhythmia Research and Management (CARMA). His research interests include computational electrocardiography (forward and inverse problems), experimental investigation and clinical detection of cardiac ischemia, repolarization abnormalities, cardiac arrhythmias, both atrial and ventricular, and defibrillation. For his research, he uses a broad range of techniques including scientific computing, imaging, image and signal processing, and visualization and well as experimental approaches in
cardiac electrophysiology.
www.sci.utah.edu/~macleod
Seminar Abstract
“Crossing the valley of death: Taking engineering to the Cardiac Bedside”
Translation of basic science and engineering to the bedside has become a national priority and also a daunting challenge for researchers–the latest “Valley of Death” to intimidate young researchers and those considering a career in science. Fortunately, there are many examples of building bridges that cross this valley and some of them exist at the University of Utah. The goal of this talk will be to share some small examples of how image based modeling, analysis, and simulation can be the pillars of such a bridge. The study of the heart and cardiology make highly motivating problems for research and engineering and form the center of interest for many translational projects; the examples of bridge-building in this presentation will come from cardiac electrophysiology. Sometimes a university with a modest research record can create the special atmosphere that supports biomedical translation and I will explore what our experience suggests are some features of such a healthy academic setting.
