Elnaz Ghajar-Rahimi, a fourth-year PhD student at the Imaging Research Laboratory at the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.

Elnaz Ghajar-Rahimi is a fourth-year PhD candidate working in Dr. Craig Goergen’s Cardiovascular Imaging Research Laboratory in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, which focuses on advancing imaging techniques to study disease progression and improve detection and treatment across a broad spectrum of medical conditions. Ghajar-Rahimi concentrates her research on the specific issue of how the heart remodels itself to gain more insight into these changed conditions that may affect the quality of human life.

What investigative avenues are you pursuing?

My research focuses on cardiac remodeling in settings of pressure and volume overload. I use high-frequency ultrasound to study how the left ventricle adapts functionally, mechanically, and geometrically to different stressors.

How did you get started in this field?

My first exposure to biomechanics research was as an undergraduate in Dr. Silvia Blemker’s lab at the University of Virginia. While interviewing at Purdue, I was intrigued by Dr. Goergen’s research group and the way it combined in vivo methods with image processing to study cardiac mechanics and function.

Why did you ultimately pick Purdue to continue your studies as a graduate student?

I chose Purdue primarily because I was interested in working alongside Dr. Goergen and his group. I was drawn to the sense of comradery and community of the BME department. I was also impressed by the collaborative opportunities with other universities and with industry.

When did you first get interested in engineering and science?

I have had a lot of fantastic mentors along the way that encouraged and supported me to pursue engineering, research, and graduate school: my parents and older sister, my high school chemistry teacher, and my first graduate mentor when I was an undergrad researcher at the University of Virginia.

What’s it like studying at Purdue?

I am very fortunate to have such a supportive and encouraging mentor in Dr. Goergen and a close-knit lab.

Beyond subject matter, what else have you learned as a Purdue graduate student?

I have come to understand that research doesn’t always go as expected, and that’s okay. An unexpected outcome may still be beneficial to the field because it introduces new questions that may eventually lead to an answer.

Have you had opportunities to teach and publish as a graduate researcher?

I’ve worked with many undergraduate students during my time at Purdue, and it has been one of the most valuable experiences of my PhD. I love watching them grow into independent scientists, and through working with them, I’ve learned that teaching is one of my biggest passions in life. I’ve also had a number of collaborative opportunities to publish on topics as wide-ranging as the quantification of internal disk strain under dynamic loading, physics-informed graph neural networks for solving blood flow equations, and novel echocardiography feature-tracking algorithms.

What advice might you give to other students deciding where to attend graduate school?

I would say you should choose a lab that not only fits your research interests, but also your personality. Lab culture goes a long way. Purdue BME fits that description perfectly: it is a tight knit community with a diverse graduate student body. We have fun!

How about outside of work; how do you spend your time?

On most weekends you’ll find me climbing, biking, or lifting. During the summers I spend a lot of time gardening and growing vegetables.