Curriculum vitae (revised 8/12/99)

· education

· research interests

· publications

· appointments

· service

KENNETH A. BARBEE, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems 

Drexel University

3141 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19104

TEL: (215) 762-2072

FAX (215) 751-0660

E-mail: barbee@coe.drexel.edu

EDUCATION:

• University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. B.S., 1986 Engineering Science and Mechanics
• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, M.S. 1988, Ph.D. 1991, Bioengineering

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APPOINTMENTS:

1998-     Drexel University

Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems

1995-1998 Allegheny University of the Health Sciences

Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
Department of Neurosurgery

1992-1995 University of Chicago

1995 -Research Associate, Department of Pathology

1992-1995 - NIH Research Fellow, Department of Pathology, Mentor: Peter F. Davies, Ph.D.

!991-1992 University of Pennsylvania

Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of Bioengineering

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RESEARCH INTERESTS:

The focus of my research is the response of cells and tissues to mechanical loading. In the cardiovascular system, I am interested in mechanotransduction mechanisms responsible for the endothelial cell response to flow. The areas of expertise I have brought to bear on this problem are: Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) of living cells in culture to measure the three-dimensional surface topography Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to calculate shear stress distributions by simulating flow over the surface geometries measured by AFM cell-culture models for applying shear stress to endothelial monolayers. I am also interested in the response of medial smooth muscle cells to the cyclic stretching that occurs in vivo due to the blood pulse. I have developed cell-culture models for applying a biaxial stretch to cultured cells while recording their responses by fluorescence microscopy techniques. In addition to the responses to physiological mechanical stimuli, I am also interested in the response of neural and vascular tissue to the extreme loading conditions associated with traumatic injury. The goals of this work are to establish cellular injury criteria that can be used in the development of protective equipment and to provide an injury model in which the mechanical insult is precisely controlled, the cellular response is measured, and the ability of therapeutic agents to mitigate the injury can be evaluated. My teaching interests include cellular biomechanics, biological elasticity and viscoelasticity, cellular imaging, mechanics of cell adhesion and locomotion, and mathematical modeling of cellular processes.

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AWARDS:

• Tau Beta Pi, Engineering National Honor Society inducted 1985
• Chancellor's Citation for Academic Achievement, University of Tennessee 1985 and 1986
• H. L. Weissberg Award, presented to the outstanding senior in Engineering Science in recognition of independent and interdisciplinary academic pursuit, University of Tennessee 1986
• University Fellow, University of Pennsylvania 1986-87
• Merck Young Investigator Award, American Heart Association, Council on High Blood Pressure Research 1994
• Member of US Delegation to Japan-USA-Singapore-China Conference on Biomechanics 1998

AFFILIATIONS:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Biomedical Engineering Society
• Institute for Medicine and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
• Reviewer:
• Circulation Research;
• American Journal of Physiology;
• Journal of Biomechanics;
• Journal of Biomechanical Engineering;
• Annals of Biomedical Engineering
• Microvascular Research
• Biophysical Journal

UNIVERSITY SERVICE ACTIVITIES:

• Director, Bioengineering Graduate Program (Ph.D.), AUHS 1997-1998
• Biomedical Graduate Education Committee, AUHS 1997-1998

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PUBLICATIONS

• "A Mathematical Model for the Effects of Adhesion and Mechanics on Cell Locomotion." PA DiMilla, K Barbee, and DA Lauffenburger. Biophysical Journal 60:15-37 (1991).
• "Shear Stress-induced Reorganization of the Surface Topography of Living Endothelial Cells Imaged by Atomic Force Microscopy," KA Barbee, PF Davies, and R Lal. Circulation Research 74:163-171 (1994).
• "Strain Measurements In Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Subjected to Mechanical Deformation." KA Barbee, EJ Macarak, and LE Thibault. Annals of Biomedical Engineering 22:14-22 (1994).
• "Endothelial Cell Surface Imaging: Insights Into Hemodynamic Force Transmission And Transduction." PF Davies and KA Barbee. News In Physiological Sciences 9:153-157 (1994).
• "Sub-Cellular Distribution of Shear Stress at the Surface of Flow-Aligned and Nonaligned Endothelial Monolayers." KA Barbee, T Mundel, R Lal, and PF Davies. American Journal of Physiology 268(Heart Circ. Physiol. 37):1765-1772 (1995).
• "Hemodynamics and Atherogenesis: Endothelial Surface Dynamics in Flow Signal Transduction." PF Davies, KA Barbee, R Lal, A Robotewskyj, and ML Griem. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 748:86-103 (1995).
• "A Mechanism for Heterogeneous Endothelial Responses to Flow In Vivo and In Vitro." PF Davies, T Mundel, and KA Barbee. Journal of Biomechanics 28(12): 1553-1560 (1995).
• "Deconvolution of Gel Filtration Chromatographs of Human Plasma Lipoproteins." KA Barbee, JA Morrow, and SC Meredith. Analytical Biochemistry 231: 301-308 (1995).
• "Changes in Surface Topography in Endothelial Monolayers with Time at Confluence: Influence on Subcellular Shear Stress Distribution Due to Flow." KA Barbee. Biochemistry and Cell Biology 73: 501-505 (1995).
• “Spatial Relationships in Early Signaling Events of Flow-mediated Endothelial Mechanotransduction.” PF Davies, KA Barbee, MV Volin, A Robotewskyj, J Chen, L Joseph, ML Griem, MN Wernick, E Jacobs, DC Polacek, N DePAola, and AI Barakat. Annual Reviews in Physiology 59: 527-49 (1997).

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