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Natalia Trayanova

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Natalia Trayanova
Alma materBulgarian Academy of Sciences
Sofia University
Scientific career
InstitutionsJohns Hopkins University

University of Oxford
Tulane University

Duke University

Natalia Trayanova is a Bulgarian physicist who is a professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. She directs the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation [1]

Early life and education

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Trayanova's father was a physiologist and director of the Biophysics Institute in Bulgaria.[2] Her mother was a professor of economics.[2] She studied physics at Sofia University, graduating in 1982.[3] Her father gave her a copy of Robert Plonsey's book, Bioelectric Phenomena, and Trayanova realised she could use her physics expertise in biology.[2] She earned a PhD from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 1986, where she studied skeletal muscle fibre biopotentials[3]

Research and career

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In 1986 Trayanova joined Duke University working with Robert Plonsey on rhythmic dysfunction in the heart.[2] In 1995 she was appointed associate professor at Tulane University, where she was awarded the several awards for teaching excellence.[4][5] She began to develop computer models for the heart but found that the cardiologists were not enthusiastic about computer modelling.[5] After Hurricane Katrina, several research institutions asked Trayanova to relocate and join them.[5] She was awarded a Fulbright Program Visiting Professorship and spent several months at the University of Oxford.

In 2006 Trayanova was recruited to Johns Hopkins University as a Professor in the Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering and Institute for Computational Science.[6] Her work considers computational simulations of the heart.[7] She was elected a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society and American Heart Association in 2010.[8][9] In 2011 she developed a computational framework that allowed virtual drug screening, simulating the drug-channel interactions and predicting the impact of drugs on electrical activity of the heart.[5]

In 2012 she was named the Murray B Sachs Endowed Chair in Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Department.[2] In 2013 she was awarded the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award, which allowed her to develop a virtual electrophysiology lab.[10] The award gave her $2.5 million over five years to develop patient-specific computational models of the heart, allowing for doctors to provide personalised treatment and diagnoses.[10] She has received extensive support from the Maryland Innovation Initiative.[11] In 2019, she was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame,[12] and she also received the 2019 Heart Rhythm Society Distinguished Scientist Award.[13] Also in 2019, she was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.[14]

She is the Chief Scientific Officer of Cardiosolv Ablation Technologies, a start-up that develops computational tools to help the treatment of ventricular tachycardia.[15] She gave a TED talk in 2017 entitled Your Personal Virtual Heart.[16] She was selected by the National Institutes of Health to take part in a briefing at Capitol Hill looking to defend the federal funding of scientific research.[17] She was elected a Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2017.[18] She has been featured on Reddit AMA r/science,[19] has been interviewed by the BBC, NPR, the Economist, and has been on the Amazing Things Podcast.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation". Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Natalia Trayanova on Developing Computer Simulations of Hearts". Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  3. ^ a b "Natalia Trayanova, PhD | Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering". Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  4. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#9709754 - Mathematical Sciences/GIG: Computational Science in Biomedical Systems". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  5. ^ a b c d Conversations about challenges in computing. Tveito, Aslak, 1961-, Bruaset, A. M. (Are Magnus). Cham. 2013-07-08. ISBN 9783319002095. OCLC 853073413.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ "JHU – Institute for Computational Medicine | Two New Faculty Appointments at the Institute for Computational Medicine". icm.jhu.edu. 6 June 2006. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  7. ^ Johns Hopkins University (2015-02-10), Natalia Trayanova - Computational Simulations of the Heart, retrieved 2018-06-11
  8. ^ "Trayanova recognized by AHA | Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering". Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  9. ^ "Natalia A. Trayanova, M.S., Ph.D." Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  10. ^ a b "Natalia Trayanova Receives 2013 NIH Director's Pioneer Award | Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering". Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  11. ^ "MII Award Projects | Tedco". tedco.md. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  12. ^ "WIT 2019 Hall of Fame Inductees". Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  13. ^ "Heart Rhythm Society 2019 Award Winners". Retrieved 2019-05-31.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "National Academy of Inventors Announces 2019 Fellows". Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  15. ^ "Team | CardioSolv". cardiosolv.com. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  16. ^ TEDx Talks (2017-07-18), Your Personal Virtual Heart | Natalia Trayanova | TEDxJHU, retrieved 2018-06-11
  17. ^ "JHU – Institute for Computational Medicine | Natalia Trayanova visits Capitol Hill in Support of NIH Funding". icm.jhu.edu. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  18. ^ "BME's Natalia Trayanova elected as a Fellow of IAMBE | Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering". Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  19. ^ "Science AMA Series: I'm Natalia Trayanova, a professor of biomedical engineering and medicine at Johns Hopkins University. I create virtual hearts to diagnose and treat patients with heart rhythm disorders. AMA!". www.reddit.com. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  20. ^ "Natalia Trayanova: Using a Personalized, Virtual Heart to Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death". www.amazingthingspodcast.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2018-10-24.