Vascular Bioengineering

Catalog description

The objectives of this graduate-level course are to familiarize students with contemporary research areas that cover the field of vascular biology, and to provide an understanding of bioengineering principles related to physiological function and therapeutic modalities. Example topics include smooth muscle cell and endothelial cell lineage, leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions, angiogenesis, drug targeting via the microcirculation, neural vascular control, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. These topics will be presented in the context of four over-arching sections: 1) Vascular Cell Biology; 2) Principles of Vascular Function and Design; 3) Vascular Pathophysiology, and 4) Therapeutic Design. For each section of the course students will be required to read, critically analyze, and present relevant articles. As indicated by the section titles, the course will culminate by highlighting how our basic understanding of physiological function/dysfunction can be translated to therapeutic design.