Bio

I recently graduated with a first-class master’s degree in Engineering Science from the Technical University in Berlin, specialising in numerical methods, simulation, and control theory. I also did my bachelor’s in engineering science at the same university.

My main research interests comprise neuroengineering and cardiovascular engineering. I have worked as a student assistant at ECP (a subsidiary of Abiomed, Inc.), supporting the development of the world’s smallest heart pump, the Impella ECP. While being a student assistant at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (National Metrology Institute of the Federal Republic of Germany), I optimised numerical simulations of a carotid flow. My interest in neuroengineering started during the research for my master thesis, where for spasticity alleviating therapy purposes, an array electrode was tested on five volunteers to determine whether treating selective locations lateral to the spinal cord (SC) can activate ipsilateral spinal sensorimotor networks.

Besides being a competent engineer, I am a certified paramedic, working full-time for ten months in Berlin between my master’s graduation and starting in Oxford at the Podium Institute. Lastly, I love sports, and boxing has been my principal sport for ten years.

Research Project

The underlying causes and mechanisms of sudden cardiac death in adolescents are poorly understood. The sex hormone influence in cardiac electrophysiology offers a promising avenue for a better understanding and prediction of SCD in adolescents since male and female ECG morphology starts discerning with puberty. I am interested in researching age-dependent sex-hormonal-driven cardiac electrophysiological changes in boys and girls during cardiovascular stress and how they relate to cardiorespiratory fitness, an indicative measure for sudden cardiac death.

Supervisor: Prof. Mauro Villarroel