Chivukula, Venkat Keshav
Venkat Keshav Chivukula
Assistant Professor | Biomedical Engineering and Science
Affiliate Faculty | Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
PI | Multiscale Cardiovascular Fluids Laboratory
Contact Information
Personal Overview
I am an educator and researcher in the field of biomedical engineering. The human body, and the cardiovascular system specifically, is fascinating, and forms the focal point of my research. In my research laboratory, we focus on understanding blood flow (hemodynamics) under healthy and pathological conditions to understand, detect, diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease. We work closely with clinicians, thereby ensuring that our research is always patient-focused. We use a combination of tools such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of blood flow, virtual surgery and optimization, reduced order modeling of the cardiovascular system, predictive modeling, 3D printing and rapid prototyping. I envision a future where personalized medicine will deliver on its promise and I plan to contribute towards it by incorporating synergistic and interdisciplinary technologies that improve patient outcomes.
I am also very passionate about teaching and have taught several courses at undergraduate and graduate levels spanning mechanical and biomedical engineering domains in traditional and flipped classroom settings. I am a strong proponent of evolving education, next-gen teaching methods, encouraging women in science and am actively engaged in K-12 STEM outreach in local schools and colleges. Outside of academia,I enjoy reading, painting, sketching, cooking, soccer, being outdoors, going on long drives and spending time with my family.
Educational Background
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, The University of Iowa, 2014
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Arizona, 2010
B.E., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Mumbai, India, 2008
Professional Experience
Assistant Professor, Florida Tech, Biomedical Engineering, 2020 - Present
Lecturer, University of North Texas, Biomedical Engineering, 2019-2020
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Washington, Mechanical Engineering 2015-2019
Postdoctoral Researcher, Oregon Health and Science University, Biomedical Engineering, 2014-2015
Current Courses
BME 2550 Biomedical Software and Programming
BME 3030 Biofluid Mechanics
BME 4241 Biotransport
BME 4191 Junior Design
BME 4292/4293 Senior Design
Selected Publications
Peer-reviewed manuscripts
Venkat Keshav Chivukula, Jennifer A. Beckman, Anthony R. Prisco, Shin Lin, Todd F. Dardas, Richard K. Cheng, Stephen D. Farris, Jason W. Smith, Claudius Mahr & Alberto Aliseda LVAD inflow cannula insertion depth influences thrombosis risk. ASAIO Journal (2019) DOI: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000001068
L Marsh, M Barbour, VK Chivukula, F Chassagne, C Kelly, S Levy, L Kim, M Levitt and A Aliseda, Platelet Dynamics and Hemodynamics of Cerebral Aneurysms Treated with Flow-Diverting Stents, Annals of Biomedical Engineering 48(1), 490-501 (2019) DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-019-02368-0
Michael R Levitt, Christian Mandrycky, Ashley N Abel, Cory M Kelly, Samuel Levy, Venkat K Chivukula, Ying Zheng, Alberto Aliseda, Louis J Kim, Genetic correlates of wall shear stress in a patient-specific 3D-printed cerebral aneurysm model, Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery 11, 999-1003 (2019) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/neurintsurg-2018-014669
M Selmi, W Chiu, V Chivukula, G Melisurgo, J Beckman, C Mahr, A Aliseda, E Votta, A Redaelli, M Slepian, D Bluestein, F Pappalardo, F Consolo, Blood Damage in Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Pump Thrombosis or LVAD System Thrombosis? International Journal of Artificial Organs, 42(3), pp 113-124 (2018) DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0391398818806162
Venkat Keshav Chivukula, Michael Levitt, Alicia Clark, Michael Barbour, Kurt Sansom, Luke Johnson, Cory Kelly, Christian Geindreau, Sabine Rolland du Roscoat, Louis Kim, Alberto Aliseda, Reconstructing patient-specific cerebral aneurysm vasculature for in vitro investigations and treatment efficacy assessments, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, Vol 61, pp 153-159 (2018) DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2018.10.103
V Chivukula, JA Beckman, AR Prisco, TF Dardas, S Lin, JW Smith, NA Mokadam, A Aliseda and C Mahr, LVAD Inflow Cannula Angle and Thrombosis Risk, Circulation: Heart Failure (2018) 11 e004325 DOI: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.117.004325
TB Lawson, DE Scott-Dreschsel, VK Chivukula, S Rugonyi, K Thornburg, M Hinds, Hyperglycemia Alters the Structure and Hemodynamics of the Developing Embryonic Heart, Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease, 5(1), 13. (2018) DOI: 10.3390/jcdd5010013
V Chivukula, JA Beckman, AR Prisco, S Lin, TF Dardas, RK Cheng, JW Smith, NA Mokadam, C Mahr and A Aliseda, Small LV Size is an Independent Risk Factor for VAD Thrombosis, ASAIO Journal (2018) DOI: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000000798
A Aliseda , VK Chivukula, P McGah, AT Prisco, JA Beckman, GJM Garcia, NA Mokadam and C Mahr, LVAD Outflow graft angle and thrombosis risk, ASAIO Journal 63(1), 14-23 (2017) DOI: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000000443
C Mahr*, VK Chivukula*, P McGah, AR Prisco, JA Beckman, NA Mokadam and A Aliseda, Intermittent aortic valve opening and risk of thrombosis in VAD patients, ASAIO Journal 63(4), 425-432 (2017) DOI: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000000512
MR Levitt, MC Barbour, SR du Roscoat Geindreau, VK Chivukula, PM McGah, JD Nerva, RP Morton, LJ Kim and A Aliseda, Computational fluid dynamics of cerebral aneurysm coiling using high-resolution and high-energy synchrotron X-ray microtomography: comparison with the homogeneous porous medium approach. Journal of neurointerventional surgery, 9(8), pp.00-00.(2016) DOI: 10.1136/neurintsurg-2016-012479
V Chivukula, S Goenezen, M Midgett, S Rugonyi, Effect of Outflow Tract Banding on Embryonic Cardiac Hemodynamics. Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease 3(1),1, (2016) DOI: 10.3390/jcdd3010001
J Crawford, V Chivukula, S Haller, N Vatankah, C Bohannan, G Moneta, S. Rugonyi, A Azarbal Aortic outflow occlusion predicts rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm Journal of Vascular Surgery, 64(6) 1623-1628 (2016) DOI: 10.1016/j.jvs.2016.03.454
M Midgett, V Chivukula, C Dorn, S Wallace and S Rugonyi, Blood flow through the embryonic heart outflow tract during cardiac looping in HH13–HH18 chicken embryos. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 12.111: (2015) DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2015.0652
S Goenezen, V Chivukula, L Phan, S Rugonyi, 4D subject-specific inverse modeling of the chick embryonic heart outflow tract hemodynamics. Biomech. Model. Mechanobiol: 1-21 (2015) DOI: 10.1007/s10237-015-0720-y
V Chivukula, B Krog, JT Nauseef, MD Henry, SC Vigmostad, Alterations in cancer cell mechanical properties after fluid shear stress exposure: a micropipette aspiration study, Cell Health Cytoskeleton. 25–35 (2015) DOI: 10.2147/CHC.S71852
V Chivukula, J Mousel, J Lu, S Vigmostad, Micro-scale blood particulate dynamics using a non-uniform rational B-spline-based isogeometric analysis., Int. J. Numer. Method. Biomed. Eng. 30, 1437–59 (2014) DOI: 10.1002/cnm.2666
TD Almomani, SC Vigmostad, VK Chivukula, L Al-zube, Red blood cell flow in the cardiovascular system: A fluid dynamics perspective, Crit. Rev. Biomed. Eng. 40, 427–440 (2012) DOI: 10.1615/CritRevBiomedEng.v40.i5.30
Recognition & Awards
Outstanding Teaching Faculty Award, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, The University of North Texas, 2020
American Society of Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) Young Innovators Fellowship, 2017
American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2016-2018