A world authority on cardiovascular biomechanics has joined the faculty of the Biomedical Engineering Department and the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at The University of Texas at Austin.
Michael Sacks
A world authority on cardiovascular biomechanics has joined the faculty of the Biomedical Engineering Department and the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at The University of Texas at Austin.
Michael S. Sacks will teach and conduct research focusing on the use of computational simulation methods coupled with medical imaging and biomechanical experimentation to develop novel approaches for patient-specific predictive therapies for the treatment of heart and valvular disease.
"Michael Sacks is the world leader in computational modeling and simulation of the behavior of the cardiovascular system and of the design of breakthrough devices that prolong the lives of heart patients, including new stents, heart valves, and new approaches to tissue engineering," said J. Tinsley Oden, ICES director and associate vice president for research at the university. "His expertise in the physics and mechanics of biological materials brings a new dimension to cardiovascular research. He will further reinforce ICES research dedicated to developing engineering approaches to critical problems in human health and medical science through computer modeling and simulation."
During his time at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Bioengineering, Sacks became active in the biomechanics of engineered tissues, in particular understanding the in-vitro and in-vivo remodeling processes from a functional biomechanical perspective. His current work in this area includes advanced biomechanical studies of cell, tissue, and organ biomechanical interactions in native and engineered heart valves and pulmonary conduits.
"We welcome Michael Sacks to our department as a distinguished colleague whose far reaching research has provided and will continue to provide improved medical devices for the treatment of a wide range of heart diseases," says Nicholas Peppas, chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department where Sacks will hold a joint appointment. "His expertise in cardiovascular engineering will complement our experience in the field and his knowledge of biomechanics will help us build up a very promising area of bioengineering research."
Sacks is particularly interested in determining the local micromechanical environment of the constituent cell populations and how this modulates the in-vivo remodeling process. He is also using imaging data to design defect-specific valve geometries from novel elastomeric scaffolds. Recent work involves developing an understanding of the remodeling process in the right ventricular myocardium as a result of pulmonary hypertension.
"I welcome the chance to work with top experts in computational mechanics, patient-specific geometry derived from medical images, and computational molecular biology, as well as access to sophisticated computational tools," says Sacks, whose previous work has made him a leading authority on the mechanical behavior and function of cardiovascular tissues, especially heart valves and myocardium. "I’m eager to add this strong computational engineering expertise to our work."
He is the technical editor of the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering and an inaugural fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Sacks has received a number of national awards including the 2009 Van C. Mow Medal from the ASME Bioengineering Division, the 2008 Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award of the University of Pittsburgh, the 2008 Richard Skalak Distinguished Lectureship from Columbia University, and the 2008 SKT Lectureship from the City College of New York. In December 2006, Sacks was selected as one of the “Scientific American” 50 leaders in science and technology for his “... research that has enabled the development of a novel biodegradable polymer-based scaffold that could one day serve as a tissue-engineered replacement for damaged pulmonary valves and other soft tissues.”
He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering mechanics from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
Sacks will hold one of the newly endowed chairs created to attract top computational engineers and scientists, the W. A. “Tex” Moncrief, Jr. Simulation-Based Engineering Science Chair.
W. A. "Tex" Moncrief and an anonymous donor established the program to recruit up to nine outstanding faculty dedicated to research and academic work in computational engineering and science. The program targets the world's most outstanding scholars that have an exceptional track record in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of advanced mathematical and computational techniques and target scientific and engineering problems.
