CBBM Lecture "The vasculature of the brain - general characteristics and insights from blood flow modelling" by

Franca Schmid, PhD, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Switzerland

will take place on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 from 17:15 to 18:15 hours in CBBM Building, Ground Floor, Seminar Room Levi-Montalcini.

Host: Prof. Markus Schwaninger
Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology
University of Lübeck

Abstract
Due to the brain’s limited energy storage capacity, a robust and well-adjusted blood supply via the vasculature is crucial. While arteries are responsible to deliver blood to all brain areas, capillaries are the most frequent vessel type and the key location for nutrient and oxygen discharge. However, because of the highly interconnected capillary bed and its heterogenous perfusion, studying microvascular flow in vivo is challenging. Numerical models are a convenient tool to generate novel insights on capillary perfusion characteristics during health and disease. We developed a bi-phasic blood flow model applicable to realistic microvascular networks from the mouse cortex. In addition to quantifying microvascular flow and topology during baseline, we use this framework to investigate the role of different vessel types for the up-regulation of flow during increased neuronal activity. In a subsequent study, our focus is on the robustness of capillary flow in response to local pathological alterations such as single capillary occlusion or the dilation of multiple capillaries due to pericyte loss. By combining our in silico model with an inverse model, we were able to directly align our investigations to in vivo observations. Within this setup, we currently investigate the role of leptomeningeal collaterals in redistributing blood during stroke.

Biosketch
https://ch.linkedin.com/in/franca-schmid

https://www.pharma.uzh.ch/en/research/functionalimaging/projects/neurovascular-dynamics.html