9315743 Zahalak This award will partially support travel costs associated with the visit by Professor George Zahalak of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Washington University, St. Louis, to conduct collaborative research with Dr. Peter Hunter of the School of Engineering at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. The research will focus on the modification of an existing biophysically-based model of skeletal muscle for application to cardiac mechanics. The Distribution-Moment (DM) Model will be modified in order to account for the specialized mechanics of cardiac muscle. Success will result in a mathematically tractable model based on biophysical cross-bridge theory, and should lead to integration with current information on fiber architecture resulting in a model for cardiac function including features of activation, mechanics, energetics and metabolism. Dr. Hunter's extensive experience in cardiac biomechanics will complement Dr. Zahalak's background in the modelling of contraction dynamics.
