| Affiliations: | Michael E. DeBakey Institute Undergraduate Research Program |
| Project Leader: | Alyson Terry alyt95@tamu.edu Biomedical Science |
| Faculty Mentor: | Randolph Stewart, DVM, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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Fall 2016: Monday & Wednesday 12:30-3:30 PM |
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Team Size:
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3 (Team Full) |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Working with experienced faculty, earning co-authorship on publication. |
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Team Needs:
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Writing and editing skills |
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Description:
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Cardiovascular diseases make up the leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. Estimates of left ventricular ejection fraction are widely used clinical indices to track cardiac performance and progression of heart disease. Ejection fraction is defined as the ratio of stroke volume over end-diastolic volume of a ventricle. However, it is not that simple. Clinicians run into a phenomenon in which patients with and without heart failure would appear to have the same ejection fraction. This is problematic to any clinician using this value to diagnose heart failure. This project aims to define the primary determinants of ejection fraction by further expanding and understand the implications each parameter involves. Team members will gain a foundation of the cardiovascular system while learning the fundamentals of research and modeling. |