Guest Scientist from USA at the Research Campus STIMULATE

After studying rockets, renewable energy, and appropriate technology to meet basic needs for rural communities in her home state of Mississippi, Laurel Marsh began a graduate program at the University of Washington. A short summer project on renewable energy led to her joining the Multiphase and Cardiovascular Flow lab. Here she determined the focus of her PhD dissertation: studying flow alterations in endovascularly treated cerebral aneurysm. The collaborative aspect of engineers working closely with neurosurgeons and research scientists reminded her of the interdisciplinary work she was drawn to while working on her undergraduate student rocketry design team. Excited to probe further into these issues and explore new methods of studying cerebrovascular flow, Laurel Marsh reached out to Prof. Dr.-ing. Dominique Thévenin and Dr. -ing. Philipp Berg. After agreeing to host her, she applied and was accepted to the U.S. Fulbright Student program. This will allow her to work at STIMULATE for 10 months before finishing her PhD program. 

She will continue investigating flow alterations occurring after flow-diverting stent and/or coil embolization device in cerebral aneurysms. She employs Lagrangian particles, to both porous media and treatment-resolved simulations, which further elucidate results gained by Eulerian metrics. While at STIMULATE, she will be working on projects including stented aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and other cerebrovascular flow scenarios. Tracer particles, fluid-structure interaction (FSI), and fast-deploying virtual stents are just some of the aspects she hopes to incorporate into these upcoming studies and her future work.

(February 2021)