Dr. Ford Versypt received the DOE CSGF 2006-2010. She leads the Systems Biomedicine and Pharmaceutics research lab, which develops and uses multiscale systems engineering approaches including mathematical modeling and computational simulation to enhance understanding of the mechanisms governing tissue remodeling and damage as a result of diseases and infections and to simulate the treatment of those conditions to improve human health. The lab specializes in (a) modeling mass transport of biochemicals through heterogeneous porous materials—primarily extracellular matrices—that change morphology dynamically due to the influence of chemical reactions and (b) modeling dynamic, multi-species biological systems involving chemical, physical, and biological interactions of diverse, heterogeneous cell populations with these materials and the chemical species in tissue microenvironments. In this seminar, a vignette of one line of research will be highlighted: bone restoration via dietary supplementation of short chain fatty acids. The lab is currently supported by an NSF CAREER award and NIH R35 MIRA and R15 grants. Additionally, some activities integrating teaching, research, and outreach will be described.
