UC Merced professor earns grant to continue work with heart pumps
A UC Merced bioengineering professor and researcher has earned a grant from the American Heart Associaton to fund his study on mechanical heart pumps.
Arian Aghilinejad, a first-year faculty member, was awarded $231,000, which will support three years of research, according to an article on the UC Merced website.
Aghilinejad is the first UC Merced faculty member to ever win the AHA’s Career Development Award, UC Merced said.
His work is on left ventricular devices, or LVADs, and how they interact with the heart and body. The devices help patients with advanced heart failure, which affects more than 6 million Americans each year, the article said.
Aghilinejad’s project is called “A Fluid Dynamics Approach to the Development of Next-Generation Left Ventricular Assist Devices.”
“While LVADs have significantly improved survival rates, many patients still experience serious complications, including blood clots, stroke and right-heart failure,” Aghilinejad told UC Merced’s Patty Guerra. “My research focuses on understanding the underlying fluid dynamics that contribute to these complications. By achieving a better understanding of device operation, we aim to reduce risks and improve long-term outcomes for patients.”
Aghilinejad is in his first year on the School of Engineering faculty. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and completed his postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology.
