Natalia Trayanova FAHA FHRS is a Professor of

Biomedical Engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

in the Department of Medicine at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. She directs the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation

Early life and education

Trayanova's father was a

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

and director of the Biophysics Institute in Bulgaria. Her mother was a professor of economics. She studied physics at

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

, graduating in 1982. Her father gave her a copy of

Robert Plonsey Robert Plonsey (July 17, 1924 – March 14, 2015) was the Pfizer-Pratt University Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. He is noted for his work on bioelectricity. Education Plonsey was born in New York City in 1924. He ...

's book, ''Bioelectric Phenomena'', and Trayanova realised she could use her physics expertise in biology. She earned a PhD from the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; bg, Българска академия на науките, ''Balgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated ''БАН'') is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy ...

in 1986, where she studied

skeletal muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

fibre biopotentials

Research and career

In 1986 Trayanova joined

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

working with

on rhythmic dysfunction in the heart. In 1995 she was appointed associate professor at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, where she was awarded the several awards for teaching excellence. She began to develop computer models for the heart but found that the cardiologists were not enthusiastic about computer modelling. After

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, several research institutions asked Trayanova to relocate and join them. She was awarded a

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Visiting Professorship and spent several months at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. In 2006 Trayanova was recruited to

as a Professor in the Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering and Institute for Computational Science. Her work considers computational simulations of the heart. She was elected a Fellow of the

Biomedical Engineering Society BMES (the Biomedical Engineering Society) is the professional society for students, faculty, researcher and industry working in the broad area of biomedical engineering. BMES is the leading biomedical engineering society in the United States and was ...

and

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...

in 2010. In 2011 she developed a computational framework that allowed virtual drug screening, simulating the drug-channel interactions and predicting the impact of drugs on electrical activity of the heart. In 2012 she was named the Murray B Sachs Endowed Chair in Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Department. In 2013 she was awarded the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

Director's Pioneer Award, which allowed her to develop a virtual electrophysiology lab. The award gave her $2.5 million over five years to develop patient-specific computational models of the heart, allowing for doctors to provide personalised treatment and diagnoses. She has received extensive support from the Maryland Innovation Initiative. In 2019, she was inducted into the

Women in Technology International Women in Technology International (WITI) is an organization promoting the achievements of women in technology and extending support, opportunities, and inspiration. It was founded by Carolyn Leighton in 1989 as the International Network of Women in ...

Hall of Fame, and she also received the 2019

Heart Rhythm Society The Heart Rhythm Society is an international non-profit organization that promotes education and advocacy for cardiac arrhythmia professionals and patients. The society was founded in 1979 and counted over 7,100 members from over 70 countries as o ...

Distinguished Scientist Award. Also in 2019, she was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. She is the Chief Scientific Officer of ''Cardiosolv Ablation Technologies'', a start-up that develops computational tools to help the treatment of

ventricular tachycardia Ventricular tachycardia (V-tach or VT) is a fast heart rate arising from the lower chambers of the heart. Although a few seconds of VT may not result in permanent problems, longer periods are dangerous; and multiple episodes over a short period ...

. She gave a

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

talk in 2017 entitled ''Your Personal Virtual Heart.'' She was selected by the

to take part in a briefing at

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

looking to defend the federal funding of scientific research. She was elected a Fellow of the

International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering The International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE) is a non-profit society of distinguished scholars engaged in medical and biological engineering research to further the field of biomedical engineering or bioengineering. The ...

in 2017. She has been featured on Reddit AMA r/science, has been interviewed by the BBC, NPR, the Economist, and has been on the Amazing Things Podcast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trayanova, Natalia Bulgarian women academics Living people Bulgarian physicists Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering faculty Tulane University faculty Sofia University alumni Duke University faculty Bulgarian emigrants to the United States 20th-century women engineers 21st-century women engineers Bulgarian women engineers 20th-century Bulgarian women 20th-century Bulgarian people 21st-century Bulgarian women 21st-century Bulgarian people Year of birth missing (living people) American biomedical engineers Fellows of the American College of Cardiology Fellows of the American Heart Association Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellows of the Biomedical Engineering Society Fellows of the European Society of Cardiology Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors