BME seminar: The Virtual Pregnancy- Using Computational Models to Probe Human Reproduction
This event is in the past.
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Speaker
Michelle Oyen, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University
Abstract
Preterm birth affects approximately ten percent of pregnancies and rates of maternal mortality in the US are rising. Computational investigations of pregnancy have great potential to explore fundamental aspects of reproductive physiology that are otherwise difficult or even impossible to investigate in humans. There are few-to-no good animal models of human pregnancy, and the reasonable ethical restrictions on experimentation with pregnant women limit clinical research. This talk will discuss how image-based computational modeling techniques can be used across length-scales to study different aspects of human pregnancy. Examples considered will include (a) models of individual collagen fibrils in preterm fetal membrane rupture, (b) maternal-fetal oxygen transport in the placenta, and (c) stresses in C-section scars at risk of rupture in subsequent pregnancies. With the recent worldwide attention given to poor maternal and fetal outcomes, fundamental bioengineering research into the mechanisms of preterm birth is timely and necessary. Computational models—including even full ‘digital twin’ models of pregnant persons—present a unique opportunity to advance an under-studied branch of medicine with significant financial and societal implications.
Bio
Michelle Oyen earned her Ph.D. in biophysical sciences and medical physics from the University of Minnesota, following a master’s and bachelor’s in engineering mechanics and materials science from Michigan State University. Her research spans from biomimetic materials for tissue engineering to the biomechanics of pregnancy, and she has been a leader in applying engineering solutions to women’s health challenges.
In her career, Dr. Oyen has held prestigious positions at Cambridge University and East Carolina University, among others. She is widely recognized for her contributions to women’s health technologies, leading several groundbreaking research initiatives funded by NIH and Wellcome Leap. Her work has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of fetal growth, placental function and early pregnancy loss. She was also recently named to the Biomedical Engineering Society's Board of Directors.
Passcode: 499238