http://www.engineersjournal.ie/predicting-rupture-of-abdominal-aortic-aneurysms/

Siobhan O’Leary was awarded best poster for her work entitled “Determining Patient-Specific Mechanical Properties of Intraluminal Thrombus by Examining Two Modes of Deformation” at the 21st Sylvester O’Halloran Surgical meeting held at the University of Limerick on Friday and Saturday 1st and 2nd March 2013. Siobhan, an IRC funded PhD student (supervisors Prof Tim McGloughlin and Dr Barry Doyle),  is investigating the role of tissue properties in aortic aneurysm behaviour.

Anthony graduated with a 2.1 Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Limerick in 2002, completed his PhD in 2009 at the Centre for Applied Biomedical Engineering Research (CABER), under the supervision of Prof. Tim McGloughlin and Dr Michael Walsh. Anthony worked as a Post Doc with CABER until 2010 when he was awarded an IRCSET-Marie Curie Research Fellowship (UL and Imperial College, London) where he worked with Professor Molly Stevens. Dr Callanan who has authored or co-authored in excess of 30 journal papers was recently awarded a prestigious Chancellor’s Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh to commence in early 2013.

Research in UWA

Aortic disease can manifest in several forms such as aneurysms, thickening of the aortic heart valves (sclerosis), hardening of the heart valves (stenosis) or aortic dissection, where the aortic wall splits and fills with blood. Barry will examine the relationships between biomechanical parameters such wall shear stress, tissue stress and geometric indices, and how they correlate to important biological parameters like inflammation and calcification. The solid and fluid biomechanics associated with these diseases will be investigated using patient-specific numerical models reconstructed from several medical imaging techniques, such as CT, MRI and PET. When coupled together, these new biomechanical and biochemical parameters offer new information for the clinician and help further diagnose and manage the particular disease.

Background

Barry graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Limerick in 2005 and was then awarded an IRCSET scholarship to pursue a PhD (graduated 2009) in with the Centre for Applied Biomedical Engineering Research (CABER), under the supervision of Prof. Tim McGloughlin. Barry worked as a Post Doc with CABER until 2010 when he was awarded an IRCSET-Marie Curie Research Fellowship (UL and The University of Edinburgh) and also appointed as an Honorary Fellow of The University of Edinburgh. Barry also co-supervises two PhD students in UL. Dr. Doyle has just been awarded a position as Research Fellow in the University of Western Australia, Perth.

In June 2012 at the Summer Bioengineering Conference at Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Professor Tim McGloughlin was elected to the Executive Committee of the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

This is the first time a non-US based academic has been elected to this Committee and it also a first for an Irish person.

Pictured from left Prof McGloughlin (CABER), Dr Anthony Callanan (CABER and recently appointed as a Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Edinburgh), Dr David Molony (formerly CABER now a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Georgia Tech) Dr Barry Doyle (CABER and and recently appointed as a Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, Perth) and Dr Michael Walsh (CABER).