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Collaborators Dimitri D. Vvedensky, Phd
Collaborators Dimitri D. Vvedensky, Phd
 Dimitri D. Vvedensky, PhD The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (20) 7594 7605; Fax: +44 (20) 7594 7604 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Downloads (right click and select "save target as") Dimitri Vvedensky - Biosketch Model for the Morphological Evolution and Vascular Structure of the Human Placenta The goal of the project was to explore various network models to identify their effect on the morphological evolution of the placenta. Further work will then be carried out to refine this approach to the point where quantitative comparisons can be made with real placentas. The ultimate aim of this project is to use fundamental physical principles to develop a model of the human placenta that can be used in a clinical environment. In parallel with this effort will be the development of a model for the vascular network and the placental morphology. In many respects this is a mainstream computational statistical mechanics project, but will rely on frequent dialogue with Dr. Salafia to ensure its relevance to placental growth. This projected supported a student, Mischa Woods, during the summer of 2008 in the Department of Physics at Imperial College, in a collaborative project with Dr. Salafia. The principal aims of this project are twofold. First, there is the classification of the morphology of the placenta in relation to its vascular structure. Quite apart from providing a vocabulary for the deviation from 'normal' placental structure, a classification provides the basis for making quantitative comparisons with models that are not based simply on visual inspection. The normal shape of a human placenta is well understood. However, there are many possible deviations from the norm whose effects on fetal development are only beginning to be investigated. Dr. Carolyn Salafia and her colleagues have been measuring the morphological and vascular properties of human placentas taken from a cohort study of pregnant women recruited at mid-pregnancy from an academic health center in central North Carolina. The variability of the shape of the placenta has been correlated with birth weight, and has been suggested as an indicator of morbidity (disease) in later life. Several follow-up studies are in progress to correlate the health of children born with the vascular structure of the placenta. The placenta is the sole fetal source of oxygen and nutrients and is the principal regulator of fetal growth and fetal health. Normal placentas grow uniformly outward from the umbilical cord insertion, resulting in an approximately round disk with a centrally inserted cord. The microscopic growth of the human placenta involves repeated branching, analogous to the roots of a tree. Education B.S. Mathematics University of Maryland 1974 S. M. Materials Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1976 Ph. D. Materials Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1980 Appointments Head of Condensed Matter Theory Imperial College London 1998-2005 Professor of Physics Imperial College London 1992- Reader in Physics Imperial College London 1989-1992 Lecturer in Physics Imperial College London 1985-1989 British Petroleum Venture Fellow Imperial College London 1982-1985 NATO Postdoctoral Fellow University College London 1981-1982 Research Fellow Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1979-1981 Concurrent and Visiting Appointments Guest Professor Université de Provence 2007 Senior Fellow Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, UCLA 2005 Röntgen Professor Universität Würzburg 1999 Guest Professor Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich 1998 Visiting Professor Department of Mathematics, UCLA 1997-2003 Honors and Awards Fellow, American Physical Society (2007); Fellow, UK Institute of Physics (2005); Imperial College Award for Teaching Excellence (1996, 2004); Wilhelm Röntgen Professorship, Universität Würzburg (1999); NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship (1981); Tau Beta Pi (1973). Closely Related Publications 1. A. L.-S. Chua, E. Pelucchi, A. Rudra, B. Dwir, and E. Kapon, A. Zangwill, and D. D. Vvedensky, 'Theory and experiment of step bunching on misoriented GaAs(001) during metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy', Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 013117 (2008). 2. C. A. Haselwandter and D. D. Vvedensky, 'Renormalization of stochastic lattice models: Basic formulation', Phys. Rev. E 76, 041115 (2007). 3. C. A. Haselwandter and D. D. Vvedensky, 'Fluctuation regimes of driven epitaxial surfaces', Europhys. Lett. 77, 38004 (2007). 4. C. A. Haselwandter and D. D. Vvedensky, 'Multiscale theory of fluctuating interfaces: Renormalization of atomistic models', Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 046102 (2007). 5. C. A. Haselwandter and D. D. Vvedensky, “Stochastic equation for the morphological evolution of heteroepitaxial thin films', Phys. Rev. B 74, 121408(R) (2006). 6. A. Dalla Volta, D. D. Vvedensky, N. Gogneau, E. Pelucchi, A. Rudra, B. Dwir, E. Kapon, and C. Ratsch, 'Evolution of vicinal ridges on V-Grooved GaAs surfaces', App. Phys. Lett. 88 , 203104 (2006). 7. A. C. Schindler, G. D. Simms, M. F. Gyure, D. D. Vvedensky, R. E. Caflisch and C. 8. C. Ratsch, M. F. Gyure, R. E. Caflisch, F. Gibou, M. Petersen, M. Kang, J. Garcia and D. D. Vvedensky, `Level set method for island dynamics in epitaxial growth', Phys. Rev. B 65, 195403 (2002). 9. M. Itoh, G. R. Bell, B. A. Joyce and D. D. Vvedensky, 'Structural transformation kinetics of epitaxial islands on GaAs(001)', Surf. Sci. 464, 200-210 (2000). 10. C. Ratsch, M. F. Gyure, S. Chen, M. Kang and D. D. Vvedensky, 'Fluctuations and scaling in aggregation phenomena', Phys. Rev. B 61, R10598-R1060 (2000). Graduate students in the past 5 years and current affiliations A. Cozzini (Imperial), C. A. Haselwandter (MIT), A. L.-S. Chua (Imperial), A. Farhadi (BNP Paribas), R. Vardavas (UCLA) Postdoctoral fellows in the past five years and current affiliation A. L.-S. Chua (Imperial), A. C, Schindler (Deutsche Bank) Collaborators R. E. Caflisch (UCLA), M. F. Gyure (HRL), E. Kapon (EPFL), E. Pelucchi (Cork), P. Plechac (Tennessee), C. Ratsch (UCLA), Zangwill (Georgia Tech). Thesis advisor Professor Keith H. Johnson (retired from MIT).
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