Richard Leask
Associate Professor
McGill University

Vascular cells adapt and respond to biomechanical forces.  Dysfunctional response of vascular cells and blood components to their mechanical environment causes and progresses cardiovascular pathologies. Leask Laboratory focuses on the role of biomechanics in the initiation, progression and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.  This conference will highlight the findings at the cellular and tissue level.  Prof. Leask will present work he has done using three dimensional cell culture models to simulate the vascular hemodynamic environment in order to answer questions on how endothelial cells (ECs) and blood components respond to flow.  He will also highlight research on the biomechanics of ascending aortic aneurysms and the mechanistic links to tissue remodelling.  Overall this work underscores the importance of biomechanics in the initiation and fate of vascular pathologies.

Richard L. Leask is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at McGill University, Associate Member of Biomedical Engineering, Bioengineering and a Researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute.  Prof. Leask received his B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc from the University of Waterloo in 1994 and 1996 respectively and a PhD from the University of Toronto in 2002.  Prof. Leask completed a fellowship in the department of Anatomical and Surgical Pathology at the Toronto General Hospital before coming to McGill.  His research interests include clinical pathology, medical device design, cardiovascular biomechanics and cellular response.