The AVERETT Lab
Advancing the Vitality of bioEngineering Research and Education through Multiscale Technologies and Transformations
Principal Investigator
Prof. Rodney D. Averett
I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Georgia. My laboratory conducts research pertaining to multiscale mechanical modeling and experimental analyses of heterogeneous structures, such as blood clots, for understanding disease emanation and progression (i.e. diabetes and sickle cell disease). My expertise in the area of fiber mechanics, molecular modeling, mechanical modeling, and nanocomposite materials is being used to solve complex multiscale problems pertaining to aberrations in clot structure due to disease or excessive injury. The goal of my research program is to use a hybrid computational and experimental approach in the area of fibrin mechanics and nanocomposite materials for the development of applications that advance engineering, biomedical, and clinical research.
Postdocs
Sumith Yesudasan, Ph.D.
After finishing his PhD from Syracuse University, Sumith joined our team as a postdoctoral researcher and Lab Manager. He is an expert in developing scientific algorithms and new force fields for biomolecular polymerization. His current research is focused on the development of coarse grained reactive molecular dynamics (CGMD) methods to simulate fibrin clot formation and multi-scale modeling of fibrin clot matrices. The goal of the research is to simulate the clot formation process using coarse grain MD simulations coupled with Navier-Stokes equations, which can eventually be used to predict the mechanical properties of fibrin clot.
Ph.D. Students
Or Zolti
Or is a PhD student in Biological Engineering at the University of Georgia. Prior to pursuing his doctoral degree, he earned his Master's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Tel-Aviv university, and his Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev. His current work focuses on microfluidics.
Masters Students
Jacob Hood
Jacob is a Master’s student in Biological Engineering at the University of Georgia. Prior to pursuing his Master’s degree, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia. His current work focuses on the physiological, chemical, and morphological properties of fibrin clots.
Vahideh Radmard
Vahideh graduated from University of Tabriz, Iran with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Her research involves studying the biomechanics behavior of biological tissues and other biological structures.
Undergraduate Students
Bly Doma
Bly is an Applied Mathematics and Biomedical Engineering major student at the University of Georgia. He is working on the optimization of fibrinogen parameters for coarse grain modeling using artificial neural networks.
Chelsea Murray
Chelsea is a Biological Engineering undergraduate student. Her area of emphasis is biomedical engineering. Her research involves studying the mechanical and morphological differences of native fibrin clots (blood clots) in comparison to clots from those affected with diabetes.
Kevin An
Kevin is a Biological Engineering Major. In his research, he uses magnetic nanoparticles to determine the mechanical properties of fibrin networks.
Alumni
1. Jiajie Xu (JAN 2017 - MAY 2017)