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The global COVID19 pandemic has highlighted the lethality and morbidity associated with infectious respiratory diseases. These diseases can lead to devastating syndrome known as the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) where bacterial/viral infections cause excessive lung inflammation, pulmonary edema, and severe hypoxemia (shortness of breath). Although ARDS patients require artificial mechanical ventilation, the complex biofluid and biomechanical forces generated by the ventilator exacerbates lung injury leading to high mortality. My group has used mathematical and computational modeling to both characterize the complex mechanics of lung injury during ventilation and to identify novel ways to prevent injury at the cellular level. We have used in-vitro and in-vivo studies to validate our mathematical predictions and have used engineering tools to understand the biological consequences of the mechanical forces generated during ventilation. In this talk I will specifically describe how our mathematical/computational approach has led to novel cytoskeletal based therapies and how coupling mathematics and molecular biology has led to the discovery of a gene regulatory mechanisms that can minimize ventilation induced lung injury. I will also describe how we are currently using nanotechnology and gene/drug delivery systems to enhance the lung’s native regulatory responses and thereby prevent lung injury during ARDS.
Further Information
Samir Ghadiali is Professor and Chair/Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Ohio State University (OSU) and a Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the OSU Wexner Medical Center. Dr. Ghadiali is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society and is a Parker B. Francis Fellow in Pulmonary Research. He is a member of the Davis Heart & Lung Research Institute and the Biophysics Graduate Program at OSU, and his internationally recognized research program uses biomedical engineering tools to develop novel diagnostic platforms and drug/gene therapies for cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the United States Department of Defense and he has mentored over 35 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees who have gone on to successful academic, industrial and research careers.