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Anita Penkova

Research Assistant Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Education

  • Doctoral Degree



Biography

PhD 2007 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Sofia, Bulgaria
2008-2009, University of Zurich, Biochemistry department, Zurich, Switzerland
2008-present, University of Southern California, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department, Los Angeles, California
2010- present, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), Los Angeles, California


Research Summary

Research topics:
Acoustic streaming in biological tissues;
Injectable intranasal stimulator in treatment of dry eye disease;

Oxygen transport measurements in the vitreous humor;

Drug transport in microfluidic devices;

Glaucoma perfusion model. Glaucoma fluid transport experimentation and mathematical modeling with ocular tissues related to drug distribution, directed towards the development of therapeutic drugs for glaucoma patients;

Preferential movement of Prohance in convection-based perfusion model using ex-vivo bovine eyes;

Fluid dynamics, transport phenomena, and mechanical properties related to eye diseases (AMD, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma) and ocular drug delivery;

Effect of shear flow on clustering and aggregation; Oscillatory flow between two hemispheres for shearing protein solution;

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of ex-vivo tissues and live animals. Measurements of surrogate drug distribution in ocular tissue by MRI techniques using various contrast agents;

Fluid dynamics and measurement of physical properties of ocular tissues corresponding to eye-related diseases and drug distribution in the tissues. Mathematical Analysis and Measurement of Ocular Transport Parameters (diffusion coefficient, permeability, etc);

Teaching:
Engineering Thermodynamics, AME 310

Professional Societies:
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Association for Research on Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)

REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS/BOOKS
Heat and Mass Transfer
Annals of New York Academy of Sciences
Book: Transport Phenomena in Biological Systems, George A. Truskey, Fan Yuan, and David F. Katz

Open positions:
Currently we accept candidates (postdoctoral fellows and graduate students) who have their own external funding. If interested, please email your CV and a portfolio to Prof. Anita Penkova (penkova@usc.edu)

Appointments
  • Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Office
  • RRB 203
  • Robert Glen Rapp Engineering Research Building
  • 854 Downey Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089
  • USC Mail Code: 90089
Contact Information
  • penkova@usc.edu
Links