Chiara Bellini
In September 2016 Dr. Chiara Bellini joined the Department of Bioengineering faculty at Northeastern University as an Assistant Professor. Her research is focused on elucidating how pathophysiological processes of cell-mediated growth and remodeling affect the mechanical function of tissues and organs within the cardiovascular system.
Dr. Bellini received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Calgary in 2012. While in Calgary, she worked with Prof. Elena di Martino to quantify changes in the mechanics of the left atrium following the onset of atrial fibrillation, using a combination of experimental and computational approaches. Later, Dr. Bellini pursued her postdoctoral training in Prof. Jay Humphrey’s lab at Yale University, where she focused on the mechanical characterization of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections using genetically-modified and pharmacologically treated mouse models.
Current students
Yasmeen Farra
Yasmeen joined the lab in 2017. She received her BSc in 2017 in Engineering Science with a minor in Mathematics from Trinity University, Texas. In her research project she is investigating the toxicological and biomechanical effects of chronic e-cigarette use on the cardiovascular system.
- Interests: Sports, reading, gardening, travel
- Hometown: Austin, Texas
Jacqueline Matz
Jackie joined the lab in 2018 after receiving her BSc that year from Duquesne University, Pennsylvania as a double major in Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics. In her research she focuses on the biomechanical changes in the vascular and pulmonary systems that occur with wildland fire smoke inhalation.
- Interests: Travel, plants, crafting, cooking
- Hometown: Sellersville, Pennsylvania
Samar Tarraf
Samar joined the lab in 2019. She received her Bachelor’s of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Philosophy from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon in 2015 and her MSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Calgary in 2018. In her research she is focused on cardiovascular biomechanics and constitutive modeling of thoracic aortic aneurysms in human patients (collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic) and mouse models (collaboration with the University of São Paulo).
- Hometown: Beirut, Lebanon
Ashley Herrick
Ashley joined the lab in 2021. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2021 with a BSc in Biomedical Engineering. In her current research work, she is investigating the effects of the chemotherapy drug Doxorubicin on aortic stiffness.
- Interests: Cooking, hiking, traveling and art
- Hometown: Belchertown, Massachusetts
Ana Vargas
Ana joined the lab in 2021. She is coadvised by Dr. Chiara Bellini with Dr. Rouzbeh Amini. She received her BSc in 2020 in Biongineering – Biomechanics and Biomaterial track from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania. In her research project she is investigating the mechanical properties of the murine thoracic aorta during pregnancy.
- Interests: Gymnastics & Running
- Hometown: Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Alumni
Deanna Moradi
Deanna completed the BS-MS program at Northeastern in 2021. As a Masters student she helped lead an NIH-funded project in the lab examining the effects of chemotherapy drugs on aortic stiffness. Today she has a successful career in Biotechnology, and is most interested in cell and tissue engineering, biomechanics, and pharmaceutical research.
Samantha Johnson
Samantha completed the BS-MS program at Northeastern in 2021. Since graduation she founded Tatum Robotics, a company which aims to offer people with deafblindness their first independent communication tool. Read more about Tatum and Samantha’s success here.