Wanda Krassowska, James L. and Elizabeth M. Vincent Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Electroporation-Mediated Drug Delivery and Gene Therapy
Electroporation refers to the creation of small (1-40 nm) pores in the lipid bilayer of the membrane in response to large electric shocks. Electroporation occurs as an undesirable side effect in accidental contacts with high voltage wires or when defibrillation shocks are applied to the heart to prevent sudden cardiac death. However, electroporation has also important applications in biotechnology, as pores allow the introduction of drugs and DNA into cells. Still, this techniques is largely empirical and the results are often variable and difficult to control. Our research in this area concentrates on the development of a model of electroporation that would allow theoretical investigation of the creation of pores during the shock, the flow of ions, drugs, and DNA through pores, and the resulting changes in intracellular concentrations.


Control of Cardiac Arrhythmias Using Nonlinear Dynamics
Cardiac arrhythmias, serious and potentially fatal diseases, can only rarely be successfully controlled with medication. The only available treatment is defibrillation, the delivery of a large electric shock. Such shocks often have serious side effects. Our research investigates the feasibility of alternative treatments for cardiac tachyarrhythmias that instead of large shocks use an appropriately timed train of small pulses. The approach is based on the feedback protocols that have been developed to control the dynamics of complex nonlinear systems and involves animal experiments, mathematical modeling, and computer simulations. These studies allow us to gain a better insight into the dynamics of cardiac rhythm and to assess the feasibility of bringing an episode of arrhythmia under control, terminate it, or even inhibit its occurrence. This research is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Physics.

Office Location:	1151 CIEMAS
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://www.math.duke.edu/cncs/~wkrassow

Specialties:

Drug Delivery
Heart, Electrophysiology

Research Interests:

Krassowska's research includes electroporation-mediated drug delivery and gene therapy, and control of cardiac arrhythmias using nonlinear dynamics

Recent Publications

1. Oliver, R.A. and Krassowska, W., Reproducing cardiac restitution properties using the Fenton-Karma membrane model, Ann. Biomed. Eng. (USA), vol. 33 no. 7 (2005), pp. 907 - 11 [s10439-005-3948-3]  [abs]
2. Kalb, S.S. and Tolkacheva, E.G. and Schaeffer, D.G. and Gauthier, D.J. and Krassowska, W., Restitution in mapping models with an arbitrary amount of memory, Chaos (USA), vol. 15 no. 2 (2005), pp. 23701 - 1 [1.1876912]  [abs]
3. Oliver, R.A. and Henriquez, C.S. and Krassowska, W., Bistability and correlation with arrhythmogenesis in a model of the right atrium, Ann. Biomed. Eng. (USA), vol. 33 no. 5 (2005), pp. 577 - 89 [s10439-005-1473-z]  [abs]
4. Smith, K.C. and Neu, J.C. and Krassowska, W., Model of creation and evolution of stable electropores for DNA delivery, Biophys. J. (USA), vol. 86 no. 5 (2004), pp. 2813 - 26  [abs]
5. Dev, S.B. and Dhar, D. and Krassowska, W., Electric field of a six-needle array electrode used in drug and DNA delivery in vivo: analytical versus numerical solution, IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. (USA), vol. 50 no. 11 (2003), pp. 1296 - 300 [TBME.2003.818467]  [abs]