Huge congratulations to 2nd-year PhD student Chelsea Gibbs, B.S. who was awarded an extremely prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
Chelsea’s research uses cell- and organ-scale models to understand engraftment tachycardias following injection of human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs). This research area is exhilarating since it offers a potential long-term cure for patients who suffer devastating cardiac injuries from myocardial infarctions (i.e., heart attacks). However, if the known possible side effect of arrhythmia manifested in clinical trials, it would be a huge problem! The big-picture goal of Chelsea’s project is to use simulations executed on high performance computers to crack this puzzle and help pave the way towards first-in-human trials.