3700 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Mechanical Homeostasis in Aortic Health and Disease

Jay D. Humphrey, PhD
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University
Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program, Yale School of Medicine,
New Haven, Connecticut

Abstract: W. Cannon introduced the concept of “homeostasis” in 1926, suggesting that physiological systems seek to maintain particular quantities near preferred levels, or set-points. It is now well known that many aspects of vascular biology, physiology, and mechanics can be understood within the context of a mechanical homeostasis (Humphrey 2008; Humphrey et al., 2014), which can be formalized in terms of a mechanobiological framework (Cyron and Humphrey, 2014; Latorre and Humphrey, 2019)

In this talk, we will consider three vignettes within the field of aortic mechanics related to mechanical homeostasis. First, we will examine the role of homeostasis in hypertensive aortic remodeling. Second, we will consider when the mechanical set-points are set during development. Third, we will consider the loss of homeostasis in thoracic aortic aneurysms. We will conclude with a brief consideration of a general approach to modeling aortic growth (changes in mass) and remodeling (changes in structure) in terms of mechanobiological equilibrium and stability.

Bio: Jay D. Humphrey is currently John C. Malone Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Yale University. Author of more than 285 archival journal papers, Professor Humphrey is a recognized expert in vascular mechanics and mechanobiology areas, with particular emphasis on vascular aging, hypertension, aneurysms, and tissue engineering. He served for 12 years as a U.S. representative to the World Council for Biomechanics and served previously as Chair of the U.S. National Committee on Biomechanics. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

Event Details

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