Rachel Zale

Rachel Zale is a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering whose research is focused on the physiology of the cardiovascular system and the global vascular effects of mechanical circulatory support (MCS). As a MathWorks Fellow, Rachel will pursue several objectives: to understand the impact of continuous-flow percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) support on renal and cerebral autoregulatory function; to determine the impact of cardiogenic shock (CS) and added pVAD support on the distribution of blood flow to different organ systems; and finally, to identify effects of autoregulation on ventricular-vascular coupling. The aim of Rachel’s work is to test the hypothesis that there exist complex, multidimensional interactions between autoregulatory flow control mechanisms, volumetric flows to different organ systems, MCS device flow, and cardiac loads, with important implications in CS and added MCS. MATLAB is an essential tool for processing in vivo hemodynamic data and elevating the efficiency and quality of data analysis. Rachel’s work has the potential to broaden our understanding of the integrated physiology of the cardiovascular system and could ultimately help to improve the clinical framework and utilization of MCS devices.