Rate My Professor Laura Fix

Ellwein Fix develops mathematical models to simulate and analyze transport phenomena in cardiorespiratory physiology, focusing on lumped parameter models of system-level dynamics and regulation, as well as distributed parameter models of local hemodynamics. Her research interests include regulation in cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, numerical methods and optimization, computational fluid dynamics, data-driven patient-specific parameterization, differential equations, dynamical systems, and algorithm development for biomedical applications. She engages in interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers in biomedical engineering, medicine, and exercise science. Key publications include “Theoretical open-loop model of respiratory mechanics in the preterm neonate” (PLoS ONE, 2018, co-authored with J. El Khoury et al.), “Toward translating near-infrared spectroscopy oxygen saturation data for the non-invasive prediction of spatial and temporal hemodynamics during exercise” (Biomech Model Mechanobiol, 2017, co-authored with M. Samyn et al.), “Influence of image segmentation on one-dimensional fluid dynamics predictions in the mouse pulmonary arteries” (J R Soc Interface, 2019, co-authored with M.J. Colebank et al.), and “Patient-specific modeling of cardiovascular and respiratory dynamics during hypercapnia” (Math Biosci, 2013, co-authored with S. Pope et al.). She has 18 refereed publications. Ellwein Fix received the American Heart Association Midwest Affiliate Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010–2012), Faculty Council Research Award from VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences (2016), Association for Women in Mathematics Travel Grant (2018), and several student and travel awards from SIAM. As principal investigator or consultant, she has obtained grants including Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program fellowships (2018, 2020, 2021) and the American Heart Association fellowship.