Mrs Sophie Hall 

Visiting Student

Sophie is a motivated and energetic student pursuing a BEng in Biomedical Engineering. She has gained her first research experience working in the group of Prof. Kwan at the Nanyang Technology University of Singapore (www.kwanrg.org). The research group aims to develop non-invasive methods that localize drug therapy with a focus on using stimulus-responsive strategies. During the five months in Singapore she worked on the production of gold nanocones. The work not only enabled her to pick up relevant wet-lab techniques but also trained her perform complex experiments autonomously. After her time at NTU she transferred to the Micro and Nano Therapies Group at the University of Southampton. Sophie is now running her own research project under the supervision of Dr. Dario Carugo. She aims to develop a microfluidic device modelling the human aortic valve. The device will enable a study of flow dynamics around the leaflets, explore the formation of vortices and furthermore verify CFD models developed by other research grous using an experimental approach. Additionally, biologists can use the model to characterize bacteria adhesion which is oftentimes influenced by altered hemodynamic in pathological valves.

Sophie’s research interests are widely spread within the field of Biomedical Engineering and she is very enthusiastic to work on many different inspiring projects before starting her PhD studies.