Anita Penkova

Research Summary

Research topics:

Acoustic streaming and ultrasound-induced transport phenomena in biological tissues;

Drug transport and delivery mechanisms in microfluidic systems;

Glaucoma perfusion models, including experimental and mathematical analysis of fluid transport in ocular tissues, with emphasis on drug distribution for glaucoma therapies

Preferential transport of ProHance contrast agent in convection-driven perfusion models using ex vivo bovine eyes;

Fluid dynamics, transport phenomena, and mechanical properties of ocular tissues associated with eye diseases;

Effects of shear and oscillatory flows on protein clustering and aggregation, including oscillatory shear flow between hemispherical geometries;

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of ex-vivo tissues and live animals models to quantify surrogate drug distribution in ocular tissues using contrast agents;

Fluid dynamics and measurement of physical properties of ocular tissues corresponding to eye-related diseases and drug distribution in the tissues.
Experimental measurement and mathematical analysis of ocular transport parameters, including diffusion coefficients, permeability, and tissue hydraulic properties.

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 (graduate students) who have their own external funding. If interested, please email your CV and a portfolio to Prof. Anita Penkova (penkova@usc.edu)