Cardiovascular diseases are a major health and economic concern both in the U.S. and worldwide. Although recent breakthroughs in medical treatments for heart diseases have improved patient outcomes, the complex interplay between many interconnected physical phenomena has been a major obstacle in understanding the physiology of the heart and integrating it in mathematical models. By overcoming these limitations, thanks to the advancements in medical imaging and the increase in computational power, we will be able to create models for personalized diagnosis and treatments.

In this talk, I will show how we can translate mathematical and computational models into patient care. I will present an ongoing project aimed at characterizing the risk of stroke in patients affected by atrial fibrillation. Then, I will give an example of how some models struggle to capture the large systolic deformations of the left ventricle. I will show how linking the heart microstructure to the macroscopic organ function leads to a more accurate description of the ventricular contraction, overcoming one of the most crucial limitations of most models. To conclude, I will show some new exciting research directions focused on congenital heart defects and the morphomechanics of cardiac development.

Zoom link: https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/94753230003?pwd=Zk5yR0Z2bjFuOUhzY2doRU1Ia1pJQT09

Simone’s website: https://www.rossisimone.com/