Areck A. Ucuzian

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery Center for Vascular & Inflammatory Diseases; Baltimore VA Medical Center, Vascular Service Baltimore, MD 21201

Dr. Ucuzian is a vascular surgeon and scientist, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and staff surgeon at the Baltimore Veterans Administration Medical Center.  He received his Bachelor of Arts at Cornell University, his Medical Degree at Tufts University, and his PhD from Loyola University Chicago. He completed general and vascular surgery training at Loyola University Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, respectively.  He received the Robert W. Hobson, II, MD Early Career Investigator Award from the Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease of the American Heart Association.  He is funded by an NIH K08 and SVS Foundation/American College of Surgeons Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award.  His research focuses on the molecular dysregulation associated with thoracic aortic dissection and aneurysm formation (TAAD), and the effect of exercise in modulating TAAD pathogenesis and patient quality of life. 

Eleonora Tubaldi

University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Maryland Robotics Center

Dr. Tubaldi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park and is a Faculty member of the Maryland Robotics Center. She received her PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering at McGill University (2017). Her research interests sit at the interface of computational modelling, fluid-structure interaction, and soft materials for applications in cardiovascular biomechanics, vascular prosthetics design, and soft robotics. In 2020, she has been awarded the Haythornthwaite Young Investigator Award by Robert M. and Mary Haythornthwaite Foundation and the ASME Applied Mechanics Division. She is author of several peer-reviewed international journal papers (J. of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, J. of Fluids and Structures, and Physical Review E among others). She serves as Associated Editor for Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines: An International Journal. She is a member of the ASME Dynamics & Control System & Structures Technical Committee.