Tulane University B.S. Biomedical Engineering, 1985
UCSD, M.S. Engineering Sciences (Bioengineering), 1987
UCSD, Ph.D. Engineering Sciences (Bioengineering), 1990
Julius M. Guccione, Jr., Ph.D. is Professor of Surgery, Surgery/Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery at UCSF. He specializes in the realistic simulation of the efficacy of novel surgical procedures and devices for treating ischemic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Guccione graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University. He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UCSD. He completed a research fellowship in Biomedical Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University.
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) inducted Dr. Guccione, Jr., Ph.D., to its College of Fellows in March 2019. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer.
The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering and medicine research, practice, or education" and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education."
Dr. Guccione was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for "outstanding contributions to the development, validation and dissemination of a unified foundation for cardiovascular in silico medicine."
Dr. Guccione's research interests include the development and validation of a non-invasive method for estimating regional myocardial contractility in vivo. Such a method would be of great value in the design and evaluation of new surgical and medical strategies to treat and/or prevent infarction-induced heart failure. Recently, he published the first evidence of depressed contractility in the border zone of a human myocardial infarction.
Dr. Guccione's research is focused on optimizing the design of medical devices for treating heart failure, especially polymeric injection. Large animal models and computer simulations indicate that adding non-contractile material to the damaged left ventricular wall can potentially reduce myofiber stress. Recent results from a clinical trial support the novel concept that polymeric injection plus coronary artery bypass grafting leads to decreased myofiber stress, restored left ventricular geometry and improved function.
See also: The 3D Living Heart Project Overview