Faculty

Vijay Vedula, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Vijay received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, working under Prof. Rajat Mittal. He gained his postdoctoral research experience at UCSD and Stanford University with Prof. Alison Marsden. Vijay received a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), India, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Trichy, India. His Master’s thesis was supervised by Prof. Tapan Sengupta. His research interests are in the areas of cardiovascular biomechanics, computational fluid dynamics, fluid-structure interaction, and more recently, multiphysics modeling, inverse analysis, machine learning, uncertainty quantification, etc.

Research Scholars

Students

Yurui Chen, Ph.D. Student

Yurui did his B.S. at Tsinghua University in China, and MS at Columbia University, before joining CBRL. Yurui is excited to work on using predictive modeling with uncertainty to assist surgical decision-making in patients with borderline left ventricles, and to perform FSI simulations in patients with ascending aortic aneurysms. In his free time, Yurui likes to spend time with his cat, play poker and tennis, and explore restaurants in NYC.

Hannah Zhai, Ph.D. Student
NSF GRF 2024

Hannah grew up in Madison, WI, and got her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include using both experimental methods and computational modeling for biomechanical applications. Hannah is excited to apply these tools to study aortic root aneurysms. When not working, Hannah enjoys traveling, skiing, and exploring new restaurants.

Bryan Gan, Ph.D. Student

Boyang (Bryan) Gan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. His prior work at the Shadden Lab involves developing reduced-order and image-based models of the aorta. Bryan is excited to become a member of CBRL to continue pushing the boundaries of computational modeling of the cardiovascular system. Fun facts about Bryan: he is an aspiring home cook, ultimate frisbee athlete, and music enthusiast

Olivia Mergler Rose, Ph.D. Student
NSF GRF 2024

Olivia grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia and received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia. She has found a passion in using computational modeling to improve the understanding of fundamental women’s health biomechanics and is excited to continue to explore this interest with the CBRL. Outside of research, Olivia enjoys yoga, calligraphy, and trying out local restaurants. Olivia is coadvised by Prof. Kristin Myers.

Parker Roman Mixon, Ph.D. Student

Parker received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University. As an undergraduate, he worked to apply virtual reality to study cardiac electrophysiology and movement disorders. At CBRL, he is excited to study the contractility of the pregnant uterus using multi-scale and multi-physics modeling. Parker enjoys learning languages and trying new coffee shops in his free time.

Yiding Wen, M.S. Student

Yiding earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sichuan University, which is renowned for its excellent medical school that deeply influenced him. He is particularly interested in applying experimental and computational modeling techniques to the field of biomechanics. He is looking forward to applying his knowledge of mechanical engineering to the field of human health. In his free time, he enjoys reading novels and practicing archery.

Shaheer Saleh, M.S. Student

Shaheer grew up in Cairo, Egypt, and received a BS in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University in May 2025. During his undergrad, he researched the aerodynamic efficacy of the Binghamton Motorsports formula car, when he was introduced to CFD. He also used Ansys Fluent to study the power efficiency of VAWTs. Shaheer enjoys watching football, playing golf, and going to concerts.

Eva Melendrez, B.S. Student
SEAS Fellow 2025

Eva grew up in Las Vegas, NV, and is currently a sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering at Columbia. Eva’s passion lies in exploring the intersections of healthcare and engineering, with a focus on women’s health.

Alumni

Elise Yang joined CBRL as an undergraduate freshman in the Summer of 2022 and contributed to studying aortic aneurysm disease. Elise received a Bonomi scholarship from SEAS, including a full summer stipend for her work.

Lei Shi received his Ph.D. from the Myers lab in Columbia and moved across the floor to CBRL as a postdoctoral research fellow. Currently, Lei is an Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University in Mechanical Engineering.

Kewei was part of CBRL as an Associate Research Scientist, with a primary appointment at the Department of Surgery, CUMC. His research was focused on performing fluid-structure interaction simulations in a prosthetic pediatric heart valve device.

Yeqing Ni joined CBRL as an M.S. student and assisted graduate student Yurui Chen in performing multiscale models of blood flow in the aorta and coronary arteries.

Chen Zhang, an M.S. student at CBRL, researched and implemented myocyte activation models for the left atrium and Purkinje fibers.

Prince Mwenda Kagunyi was part of CBRL as a double major undergraduate and was mentored by Hannah Haider to build myocardium models in health and disease.

Hannah Haider was part of CBRL when she received her M.S.. She developed personalized models of left ventricular mechanics and was awarded an NSF Fellowship for her work. We wish her all the best for her doctoral studies in Myers lab.