Biography
Having studied Mechanical Engineering for my BSc and Biomechanics in my MSc, I obtained my PhD in Medical Engineering from Queen Mary, University of London in 2012. The subject of my PhD research was the experimental investigation and mathematical modelling of the structure-function relationships in the aortic heart valve. I then took a postdoctoral research associate position at University College London (UCL) and subsequently joined the University of Portsmouth as a lecturer. I am currently a member of the Biomedical Engineering research group and lead the Cardiovascular Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). My research interests centre on continuum mechanics and multi-scale modelling of soft solids including biological tissues, cardiovascular biomechanics and constitutive modelling. I am also invovled in delivering various modules on topics of Solid Mechanics and Fracture Mechanics, from L4 to L7.
Research Interests
Multi-scale biomechanics of soft tissues
• Experimental analysis and mathematical modelling of:
(i) Tissue-level behaviour
(ii) Micromechanics of the Extra-Cellular Matrix (ECM)
Continuum mechanics
• Developing new hyperelastic strain energy functions for modelling nonlinear elastic finite deformations of soft solids.
• Developing new strain-energy functions for soft tissue modelling.
• Modelling the rate-dependent (viscoelastic) mechanical behaviour of heart valves.
Arterial haemodynamics
• Experimental modelling and in vitro investigation of pulsatile arterial flows in healthy and atherosclerotic arteries.