UC Irvine biomedical engineer Ghassan Kassab has been awarded a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate how high blood pressure and increased blood flow affect the heart.

Kassab plans to create a mathematical model showing how coronary arteries respond to conditions like high blood pressure. The research may help doctors more precisely identify the role of high blood pressure and blood flow overload in heart failure, heart attack and stroke.

“Coronary arteries respond to high blood pressure and overload by changing their shape, or what we refer to as remodeling,� said Kassab, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering. “We hope to learn more about the exact mechanics of the remodeling process by looking at changes in the collagen and elastin fibers in the arteries and by looking at how plaque forms.�

Untreated high blood pressure damages the lining of the arteries, enabling fat and calcium to build up and form plaque. The artery becomes narrowed and stiff, a condition called atherosclerosis, which reduces blood flow. Over time, decreased blood flow to certain organs in the body can cause damage leading to heart attack or stroke.

Kassab hopes that by quantifying the changes in the arteries, physicians might be able to predict key risk factors for heart attack.

About The Henry Samueli School of Engineering
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering features nearly 3,000 students and 90 faculty in five departments: biomedical engineering, chemical engineering and materials science, civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, and mechanical and aerospace engineering. The school also is home to numerous research centers, including the Center for Pervasive Communications and Computing, National Fuel Cell Research Center and Center for Biomedical Engineering. It is a major participant in the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.