Our Team
Peter Weinberg
Professor Peter Weinberg won a scholarship to Cambridge, where he read Natural Sciences. He then obtained a DIC, MSc and PhD from Imperial College, the latter being supervised by Colin Caro in the Physiological Flow Studies Unit. After being awarded a Lady Davis Fellowship in the Department of Bioengineering at the Technion, Israel, and further postdoctoral studies in the Physiological Flow Studies Unit, he was appointed Lecturer and then Reader in the School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading. During this period he was also a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Cardiovascular Biology & Medicine, King’s College London. In 2004 he returned to Imperial College as a Reader in the Department of Bioengineering, and was appointed Professor of Cardiovascular Mechanics there in 2007. He has served as Director of Postgraduate Studies (Research) (2004-2007) and Director of Research (2006-2014) for the Department, and has been one of its Academic Line Managers since 2016. He has served on the Departmental Management Committee for seventeen years.
Professor Weinberg’s research is chiefly concerned with elucidating mechanisms involved in the development of atherosclerosis. He has developed a new theory relating the anatomically patchy distribution of atherosclerosis to variation in blood flow, endothelial FSTL1 synthesis and uptake of circulating low density lipoprotein by the arterial wall. He is also developing methods of pulsewave analysis for diagnosing heart failure and refining and analysing techniques for studying effects of blood flow on endothelial permeability and activation in vitro. The work has been funded by the BHF, BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC, EU, Royal Society and Wellcome Trust.
He has been elected Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, Ordinary Member of the Physiological Society, Member of the British Atherosclerosis Society, Committee Member of the London Microcirculation Group, Committee Member of the British Society for Cardiovascular Research and Committee Member of the British Atherosclerosis Society. He founded (2008) and chaired (2011-2014) the UK’s Bioengineering Society (now the The Association of Biomedical Engineers, Medical Engineers and Bioengineers, or BiomedEng Association). He sat on the Project Grants Committee of the British Heart Foundation and the Novel and Emerging Technologies (NET) Grant Panel of Heart Research UK. He has helped organise numerous national and international symposia, including chairing the first joint BAS/BSCR meeting and meetings of the Bioengeering Society that attracted >500 delegates, and he was an Associate Editor (and is now an Editorial Board Member) of Atherosclerosis. He has supervised over 70 Fellows, Postdoctoral Research Associates, Research Assistants, Technicians and PhD students, eight of whom have obtained academic positions. In 2014 he won the Imperial College President’s Award for Excellence in Research Supervision.
Professor Weinberg has taught numerous undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He currently teaches Cardiovascular and Respiratory Systems to 200 first-year undergraduates each year.
Click here to visit his Imperial College Personal Webpage
Email Peter
Dr Ethan Rowland
I graduated from Durham University in 2008 with a first class MEng Hons degree in Aeronautics, working on computational modelling of membrane wings in my final year. It was this that led to an interest in physiological modelling after drawing parallels with biological tissue constitutive models.
I joined Imperial College in 2009 having been awarded a 4-year studentship with the BHF Centre of Research Excellence. My first year saw the completion of an MRes course, working on two 6-month research projects with Prof. Peter Weinberg and Prof. Spencer Sherwin investigating the role of haemodynamics in atherosclerosis. These resulted in my PhD work, investigating the mechanical determinants of endothelial cell (EC) morphology in relation to vascular disease. The non-uniform distribution of atherosclerotic lesions within the arterial system correlates spatially with variations in EC morphology. My work examined influences of flow and wall strain on EC morphology.
My subsequent postdoctoral work in the group has focused both on characterising flow in arteries and on using arterial pulse waves to diagnose heart failure; it employs computational methods and measurements made with novel ultrasound techniques.
Email Ethan
MS Jiyoon Kim
I obtained an undergraduate degree and MRes from the Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, and am now conducting my PhD in the same department under the supervision of Professor Manaos Drakakis. At the same time, I am assisting the Weinberg group with the development of simple, low-cost technology based on ultrasound that can be used to screen for heart failure in primary care.
Ryan Reavette
I graduated from the University of York in 2015 with an MMath degree in Maths and Physics. My final year project was on hydrodynamic stability theory and involved deriving and applying criteria for instability in cases involving velocity shear, thermal convection, and differential rotation. Following this, I worked for a year at the technology consultancy BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, before joining the CDT in Fluid Dynamics across Scales on a four year studentship here at Imperial.
For my first year, I was based in the Department of Mathematics. I was awarded an MRes degree after completing a research project on dynamo theory, which explores the mechanism by which the motion of an electrically conducting fluid may generate a self-exciting magnetic field. It’s generally accepted as the explanation for the magnetic fields of planets and stars.
My PhD research can be broadly split into two parallel streams: the first involves computational modelling of arterial haemodynamics, with a focus on the developing of models which incorporate the non-linear behaviour of the arterial wall; the second involves wave intensity analysis, and in particular evaluating its potential as a non-invasive method for diagnosing heart failure.
Email Ryan
Pratik Kandangwa
I graduated from Imperial in 2018 with a MEng degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Having completed a research placement at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and worked as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant at Imperial, I was drawn to the CDT in fluid dynamics. The idea of providing in-depth background/training and also, giving time to choose topics prior to PhD makes this programme very appealing.
During my first year of CDT (MRes), I worked with Peter and his research group on the influence of rabbit aortic geometry on wall haemodynamic metrics. In line with this work, I am currently investigating to identify potential characteristics of blood flow that trigger disease of coronary arteries.
Email Pratik
Adele Lam
I graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2017 with a BEng in Biomedical Engineering, and have completed my MRes in Bioengineering at Imperial College London. My scientific interests lie in understanding endothelial cell mechanobiology. I have previously worked on the maturation of pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells into vascular subtypes under the influence of shear stress using a multiplex shear device, and also on a microfluidic system to independently apply shear stress and cyclic stretch on endothelial cells.
My current PhD project revolves around the interaction between blood and endothelial cells (ECs) in the microvasculature. As RBCs contribute greatly to the multi-phase flow characteristics of blood that is especially apparent in microvessels, we posit that these changes in RBC behaviour inadvertently leads to modified flow within the microvessels. Specifically, the local viscosity and wall shear stress imposed on microvascular endothelial cells are altered, thus resulting in endothelial dysfunction.
Email Adele
Dr Anenta Ramakrishnan
I read undergraduate Medicine at Imperial College London. As part of my intercalated BSc year in Cardiovascular Sciences, I undertook a project using computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis to model shear stress patterns in abdominal aortic aneurysms with the Department of Chemical Engineering. Following various research placements including the Academic Foundation Programme, I began my specialist training in Cardiology in the South London Deanery. I am currently embarked on a research studentship co-supervised by Professor Peter Weinberg and Professor Jamil Mayet. My aim is to understand the value of and validate the use of novel non-invasive methods of measuring arterial haemodynamics for cardiovascular risk prediction. Currently I am working with fellow team members Ethan and Ryan on the first human feasibility study of ‘Arteriowave’. This is an ultra-fast diameter-based ultrasound for deriving wave intensity analysis. We aim to be able to validate the method with ‘gold-standard’ invasive measurements, and show that it can be used to diagnose heart failure with sensitivity and specificity akin to conventional 2D trans-thoracic echocardiography.
Email Anenta
Gaetan de liedekerke beaufort
I graduated from Imperial College London with a MEng degree in mechanical engineering in 2019, completing my final year project on the simulation of polymersomes in DPD. In the last year of my degree, I took several bioengineering courses which opened me to the field of biomechanics.
I am now studying for my PhD in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College, investigating mechanisms of transport of LDL sized particles through the endothelium. The focus is on development of techniques of superfast, super-resolution microscopy that can track transcytosis of LDL across cells.
Email Gaetan
Previous Members
Members with permanent academic positions
Dr Z Mohri (Postdoctoral Fellow 2008-2016)
Dr C Warboys (Postdoctoral Fellow 2015-2019)
Dr E Bailey (Postdoctoral Fellow 2011-2016)
Dr Asimina “Melina” Kazakidi (PhD student and Postdoctoral Fellow 2004-2009)
Dr K H Fraser (Marie Cure Fellow 2011-2014)
Dr J Alastruey-Arimon (Intermed Bas Sci Fellow 2009-2011)
Dr F Palombo (Postdoctoral Fellow 2007-2009)
Dr P Vincent (PhD student 2006-2009)
Fellows
J Alastruey-Arimon 2009-2013
K H Fraser 2011-2013
C M Warboys 2016-2019
A Ramakrishnan 2019-2023
Postdocs
V Alcantara-Alonso 2021-2023
T Ojo 2020-2021
K Riemer 2020-2023
M Lerendegui 2020-2023
X Zhou 2017-2020
K Y Chooi 2016-2016
F Ahmad 2016-2019
M Ghim 2012-2019
E Rowland 2016-2023
M Toulemonde 2015-2018
A P Comerford 2011-2015
E Bazigou 2011-2016
E Bailey 2011-2016
A A E Hunt 2011-2013
Y Wen 2010-2013
A Kazakidi 2009-2009
L A Clarke 2009-2011
Z A Mohri 2008-2016
A R Bond 2008-2011
M Scutcher 2008-2009
F Palombo 2007-2009
C M Warboys 2006-2009
L Harrington 2004-2007
B A Nier 2002-2007
S G Cremers 2002-2005
M K Shaw 2001-2002
T J Staughton 2000-2002
Q Javed 1992-1995
A Sebkhi 1992-1995
Research assistants
S E Barnes 2002-2002
R M Talbot 1992-1993
M K Tageldeen 2021-2021
PhD students
G de Liedekerke Beaufort 2019-2024
P Kandangwa 2019-2024
A Lam 2018-2021
R Reavette 2017-2021
M Arshad 2017-2021
K Riemer 2017-2021
M Dazzi 2016-2020
K T Pang 2016-2019
P Alpresa Gutiérrez 2013-2017
Y Mohamied 2012-2016
K Y Chooi 2011-2015
V Peiffer 2009-2012
M Sardalou 2009-2013
C Potter 2009-2012
C Talbot 2006-2006
A A E Hunt 2006-2010
P Vincent 2006-2009
A Kazakidi 2004-2008
A R Bond 2003-2007x
E Hernandez Montes 2002-2006
B A Ewins 2001-2005
T J Staughton 1996-2000
R M Talbot 1993-1997
B A Forster 1991-1995
technicians
P Sowinski 2011-2016
J Del Rio 2001-2004
S Mushtaq 1999-2001
C J McGillicuddy 1999-2000
M Movassagh 1998-1999
S E Barnes 1996-1999
J P Richards 1991-1998