BME PhD Preliminary Exam Announcement for Elnaz Ghajar-Rahimi (C. Goergen, advisor) Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 2:30pm ET. Title: Cardiovascular remodeling due to volume and pressure overload Date/Time: November 16th 2023 at 2:30pm ET Location: MJIS 2001 Zoom link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/94088456640<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpurdue-edu.zoom.us%2Fj%2F94088456640&data=05%7C01%7Cbmegradstudents-list%40ecn.purdue.edu%7Cf7e017a12240496bcea708dbdc94fecc%7C4130bd397c53419cb1e58758d6d63f21%7C0%7C0%7C638346304713776944%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BiMLjjl3LL6k40t4ltrmkjzUrXzrmLAL371lBxjktuM%3D&reserved=0> Advisory Committee: Craig J. Goergen, Chair; Vitaliy L. Rayz; Fiona R. Kolbinger; Kyoko Yoshida; Benjamin J. Landis Abstract: Volume and pressure overload induce cardiac remodeling that may lead to heart failure when left untreated. Conditions such as pregnancy, lactation, and aortic stenosis are common etiologies of pressure and volume overload. However, sex- and female-specific variables and recovery are often overlooked in studies of cardiac overload. One of the most common modalities used to study cardiac function, 2D ultrasound, does not fully capture changes that may occur to heart shape and performance given that it is limited to a single imaging plane. To improve our understanding of pressure and volume overload we propose mouse models of lactation, chronic hypertension with pregnancy, and reversible transverse aortic constriction. We hypothesize that four-dimensional ultrasound will reveal the unique ways in which volume and pressure overload in the setting of pregnancy, lactation, and aortic constriction affect cardiac remodeling. Completion of this study will broaden the horizons of maternal cardiac health and lay the framework for future exploration of sex as a biological variable in CVD studies.