This profile is part of a series to highlight the researchers who will be honored at a ceremony for UNMC’s 2015 Scientist Laureate, Research Leadership, Distinguished Scientist and New Investigator Award recipients.
The New Investigator Award
New Investigator Awards go to outstanding UNMC scientists who in the past two years have secured their first funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense or other national sources.
New Investigators also had to demonstrate scholarly activity such as publishing their research and/or presenting their findings at national conventions.
- Name: Alexey Kamenskiy, Ph.D.
- Title: Assistant professor, UNMC Department of Surgery
- Joined UNMC: 2012
- Hometown: Saratov, Russia
Research focus:
Vascular mechanobiology
Describe your research briefly in layman’s terms.
My research is focused on understanding the function and pathophysiology of the arterial wall. The thrust of my work is to deeply integrate engineering and medicine through the use of in vivo, ex vivo, in vitro and in silico methods to develop more efficient and practical solutions to vascular problems such as vascular disease or vascular trauma.
How does your research contribute to science and/or health care?
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Development of better methods and devices to treat these diseases requires detailed understanding of how human arteries function and respond to surgical treatments. The contribution of my laboratory is in unraveling several important aspects of vascular mechanobiology with the aim to develop improved materials and devices for vascular and endovascular applications. This development is possible through Collaboration for Advanced Surgical and Engineering Applications (CASEA) laboratory that is dedicated to supporting joint multidisciplinary efforts of clinicians, organ recovery experts and mechanical engineers in cardiovascular research.
What is the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you, professional or personal?
One of the best advices was to keep an open mind. Open-mindedness is essential for making scientific progress with a multidisciplinary team. I am infinitely grateful for having such a team of spectacular collaborators and mentors that make this progress possible.
List three things few people know about you.
- I enjoy backpacking in remote areas with few people around.
- I am obsessed with landscape photography and don’t mind carrying heavy equipment or waiting several hours to make a nice shot.
- I studied classic guitar and played in a rock band in high school and college.