Akshay Pujari
Biomedical Research, Computational Biology | Rubedo Life Sciences
32 years old
Driving License
San Francisco Bay Area United States (California)
Professional Status
Employed
Just looking around
About Me
Currently working at Rubedo Life Sciences primarily in the Bioinformatics / Computational Biology team. Previously, Research Associate II at an early staged drug discovery company – DiCE Molecules in Redwood City.
I graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with an MS in Mechanical, Biomedical Engineering. I worked as a Research Assistant in the Vascular Biology and Biofluids Laboratory, and did in-vivo, ex-vivo in-vitro and in-silico translational research work. With the diverse and cross-disciplinary nature of the research, my coursework included classes from mechanical and biomedical engineering, biology, animal science and computer science disciplines.
My background is in the research connecting the fields of Engineering, Biology, and Medicine, and my skillsets include but are not limited to: Biomedical Sciences, Computational Biology, Vascular Biology, Wet lab experimentation, Monolith Chemistry, Bioinformatics, Automation + Robotics and Engineering design. I have an extensive background in both life sciences and engineering domains. I am passionate about science and unification of disciplines to solve new problems relevant in understanding and improving human life.
I graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with an MS in Mechanical, Biomedical Engineering. I worked as a Research Assistant in the Vascular Biology and Biofluids Laboratory, and did in-vivo, ex-vivo in-vitro and in-silico translational research work. With the diverse and cross-disciplinary nature of the research, my coursework included classes from mechanical and biomedical engineering, biology, animal science and computer science disciplines.
My background is in the research connecting the fields of Engineering, Biology, and Medicine, and my skillsets include but are not limited to: Biomedical Sciences, Computational Biology, Vascular Biology, Wet lab experimentation, Monolith Chemistry, Bioinformatics, Automation + Robotics and Engineering design. I have an extensive background in both life sciences and engineering domains. I am passionate about science and unification of disciplines to solve new problems relevant in understanding and improving human life.
Journal of Biomechanical Engineering (10/2020) Special Section Research Paper:
The lymphatic system plays a pivotal role in the transport of fats, waste, and immune cells, while also serving as a metastatic route for select cancers. Using live imaging and particle tracking, we experimentally characterized the lymph flow field distal from the inguinal lymph node in the vicinity of normal bileaflet and malformed unileaflet intraluminal valves. Particle tracking experiments demonstrated that intraluminal lymphatic valves concentrate higher velocity lymph flow in the center of the vessel, while generating adjacent perivalvular recirculation zones. The recirculation zones are characterized by extended particle residence times and low wall shear stress (WSS) magnitudes in comparison to the rest of the lymphangion. A malformed unileaflet valve skewed lymph flow toward the endothelium on the vessel wall, generating a stagnation point and a much larger recirculation zone on the opposite wall. These studies define physical consequences of bileaflet and unileaflet intraluminal lymphatic valves that affect lymph transport and the generation of a heterogeneous flow field that affects the lymphatic endothelium nonuniformly. The characterized flow fields were recreated in vitro connecting different flow environments present in the lymphangion to a lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) pro-inflammatory phenotype. Unique and detailed insight into lymphatic flow is provided, with potential applications to a variety of diseases that affect lymph transport and drug delivery.
The lymphatic system plays a pivotal role in the transport of fats, waste, and immune cells, while also serving as a metastatic route for select cancers. Using live imaging and particle tracking, we experimentally characterized the lymph flow field distal from the inguinal lymph node in the vicinity of normal bileaflet and malformed unileaflet intraluminal valves. Particle tracking experiments demonstrated that intraluminal lymphatic valves concentrate higher velocity lymph flow in the center of the vessel, while generating adjacent perivalvular recirculation zones. The recirculation zones are characterized by extended particle residence times and low wall shear stress (WSS) magnitudes in comparison to the rest of the lymphangion. A malformed unileaflet valve skewed lymph flow toward the endothelium on the vessel wall, generating a stagnation point and a much larger recirculation zone on the opposite wall. These studies define physical consequences of bileaflet and unileaflet intraluminal lymphatic valves that affect lymph transport and the generation of a heterogeneous flow field that affects the lymphatic endothelium nonuniformly. The characterized flow fields were recreated in vitro connecting different flow environments present in the lymphangion to a lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) pro-inflammatory phenotype. Unique and detailed insight into lymphatic flow is provided, with potential applications to a variety of diseases that affect lymph transport and drug delivery.
Creation date
31 Aug 2020
