Dr. Hanchen Huang joins our department as the School of Engineering Professor of Sustainable Energy
Dr. Huang will join the Mechanical Engineering Department in fall 2009 as a UConn School of Engineering Professor in Sustainable Energy. He is currently a professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He received his B.S. in Physics from Hebei Normal University (China) in 1984, his M.S. in Theoretical Nuclear Physics from the Institute of Atomic Energy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1987, and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1995. He has worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a post-doc and then staff scientist, and taught at Hong Kong Polytechnic University as an assistant professor and then associate professor. Dr. Huang's . . . . read more

Prof. Sun receives American Heart Association Award
Prof. Wei Sun was recently awarded an American Heart Association National Scientist Development Award for his proposed work, titled "Development of Biomechanical Models for Analyzing Percutaneous Transvenous Mitral Annuloplasty." Minimally invasive percutaneous heart valve therapy holds promise for a large number of high-risk patients suffering from valvular heart disease but who are not eligible for open-heart surgery. Recently, the percutaneous transvenous mitral annuloplasty (PTMA) technique has been developed for the treatment of functional mitral valve regurgitation. However, in the first-in-human clinical trials conducted in 2006 and 2007, device dysfunction and fatigue fracture were reported. It is hypothesized that device failure might be caused by unknown biomechanical interactions between venous tissue, the mitral valve system, and the PTMA device. The goal of Prof. Sun’s project is to conduct a combined experimental and computational study to analyze mitral tissue-implant interaction. Working with Bruce Liang, M.D., a professor at the Cardiology Department of the UConn Health Center, Prof. Sun will develop patient-specific computational models of the mitral valve using clinical cardiac images. These models will be used to simulate PTMA device deployment and function under various conditions and to evaluate PTMA device failure modes. This project will improve our understanding of the biomechanics involved in PTMA treatment and aid in the rational development of novel minimally invasive valve repair devices. The AHA award will provide $ 308,000 in research funds over four years.

Prof. Kotha is Awarded a Major NIH Grant
Osteoporosis, a debilitating disease of low bone mass, afflicts 75 million people worldwide with an estimated $48 billion in healthcare costs. A major determinant of bone mass is the mechanical loading to which the skeleton is subjected during daily activity, which stimulates adaptive modeling. Osteocytes, cells embedded in the bone matrix, are thought to be responsible for sensing and coordinating adaptive responses in the skeleton. Dr. Kotha’s research is focused on determining mechanical loading induced activation of a powerful pathway (the Wnt/β-catenin signaling) in osteocytes such that it leads to bone formation occurring at sites of peak mechanical stresses. It is noted that failure to enhance bone formation at these sites can result in bone fractures. The activation of molecules involved in the pathway will be determined in relationship to sites of peak mechanical stimuli. The research is important in building an insightful foundation for regulation of bone mass by mechanical loading and in evaluating molecular pathways to reduce fracture risk. Prof. Kotha is the principal investigator of the $1.76 million five year grant, collaborating with his colleagues at UConn Health Center and the Health Center of University of Missouri, Kansas City.