[staff_member id=14111 show_name="0"]
<h2><strong>Biography</strong></h2>
Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy earned a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (BME) from the University of Iowa in 2003. Following a post-doctoral fellowship at the NIH and a research faculty position at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Ramaswamy joined the BME department at Florida International University (FIU) in December 2009 as an Assistant Professor. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor at FIU. His research expertise is in the areas of Cardiovascular Mechanobiology, Tissue Engineering and Mechanics. He directs the Tissue Engineered Mechanics, Imaging and Materials Laboratory (TEMIM Lab) at FIU. He has numerous scientific articles published in his discipline in leading journals, proceedings and book chapters. His work has been funded by the American Heart Association (AHA), the Miami Heart Research Institute, the National Science Foundation, private industry and academia. He is a Fellow of the AHA. Dr. Ramaswamy holds a patent in the area of Tissue Engineering Bioreactors, a provisional patent in the alloying and surface treatment of Nitinol and is co-founder of a start-up company (DeNovo Biodevices LLC, Miami, FL). He is an advisor to several graduate and undergraduate students and participates in significant outreach mentorship efforts to schools in the Miami-Dade County Public School System.
<h2><b>Research</b></h2>
The Tissue Engineered Mechanics, Imaging and Materials laboratory (TEMIM LAB) primary research focus lies in the area of cell and engineered tissue mechanics with application in cardiovascular regenerative medicine. The TEMIM lab, conducts both experimental and computational investigations in this area. A major goal of the lab is to develop functional tissue engineered heart valves (TEHVs) using 1) porcine small intestinal submucosa (PSIS) substrates and 2) mechanically regulate stem cells for the TEHV application as well as for (3) broader application in cardiovascular regenerative medicine. Concurrently the TEMIM lab is also working towards the elucidation of mechanobiological cellular and molecular mechanisms that are involved in the etiology of valve diseases, particularly aortic valve calcification. A specific project in this area involves (4) the delineation of mechanosensitive fluid and structural conditions of the aortic valve due to elastin remodeling that may serve as an early indicator of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD). In addition, at the cellular level, the lab is interested in identifying the fluid-induced mechanobiological responses of valve endothelial cells in valve homeostasis and in the development of CAVD. The research in the TEMIM lab has been supported by the AHA, the Miami Heart Research Institute, NSF, industry and academic funding sources.
<h2><b>Selected Publications</b></h2>
1) Rath S, Salinas M, Villegas A, Ramaswamy S. Differentiation and Distribution of Marrow Stem Cells in Flex-Flow Environments Demonstrate Support of the Valvular Phenotype. PLOS ONE, 2015 Nov 4;10(11):e0141802. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141802.

2) Ramaswamy S, Boronyak SM, Le T, Holmes A, Sotiropoulos F, Sacks MS. A novel bioreactor for mechanobiological studies of engineered heart valve tissue formation under pulmonary arterial physiological flow conditions. J Biomech Eng. 2014 Dec;136(12):121009.

3) Salinas, M, Ramaswamy, S: Computational simulations predict a key role for oscillatory fluid shear stress in de novo valvular tissue formation. Journal of Biomechanics, 2014 Nov 47(14): 3517–3523.

4) Salinas M, Rath S, Villegas A, Unnikrishnan V, Ramaswamy S: Relative Effects of Fluid Oscillations and Nutrient Transport in the In Vitro Growth of Valvular Tissues, Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology, 2016 Jun;7(2):170-81. doi: 10.1007/s13239-016-0258-x. Epub 2016 Feb 8.

5) Rath S, Salinas M, Bhatacharjee S, Ramaswamy S. Marrow Stem Cell differentiation for Valvulogenesis via Oscillatory Flow and Nicotine Agonists: Unusual Suspects? Journal of Long Term Effects of Medical Implants 2015 25(1-2): 147-160.

6) Martinez C*, Henao A#, Rodriguez JE, Padgett KR, Ramaswamy S: Monitoring Steady Flow Effects on Cell Distribution in Engineered Valve Tissues by Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Mol Imaging. 2013 Oct;12

7) Alfonso A, Rafiee P, Rath S, Hernandez-Espino, Din M, George F, Ramaswamy S: Glycosaminoglycan Entrapment by Fibrin in Engineered Heart Valve Tissues. Acta Biomater. 2013 Sep; 9(9): 8149-57.

8) Ramaswamy S, Salinas M, Carrol R, Landaburo K, Ryans X, Crespo C, Rivero A, Al-Mousily F, DeGroff C, Bleiweis M, Yamaguchi H: Protocol for Relative Hydrodynamic Assessment of Tri-leaflet Polymer Valves. J Vis Exp. 2013 Oct 17;(80):e50335. doi: 10.3791/50335.

9) Martinez C, Rath S, Van Gulden S, Pelaez D, Alfonso A, Fernandez N, Kos L, Cheung H, and Ramaswamy S: Periodontal Ligament Cells Cultured under Steady Flow Environments Demonstrate Potential for Use in Heart Valve Tissue Engineering. Tissue Eng Part A. 2013 Feb;19(3-4):458-66. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2012.0149.

10) Salinas M, Schmidt DE, Libera M, Lange RR, Ramaswamy S: Oscillatory Shear Stress Created by Fluid Pulsatility Versus Flexed Specimen Configurations, Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2014 May;17(7):728-39. Erratum in: Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2014, 17(8): 932.