Francesco Alessandro Esposito

WORK HISTORY

ABOUT FRANCESCO ALESSANDRO ESPOSITO

I should start by talking about myself and my experiences. However, I would first like to state why I\'m doing what I\'m doing: to help people. How? With an unwavering commitment to contributing meaningfully to the cardiovascular field.My name is Francesco, I\'m 25 years old, and I am a biomedical engineer. Recently, I have been joining the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Maastricht (CARIM) as a PhD candidate. My research will focus on arterial wall stiffness, hypertension, calcification, and their clinical implications.Until now, I\'ve explored various aspects of Biomedical Engineering. During my Bachelor\'s degree, I primarily dealt with electronic exams. However, in my third year, I fell in love with biomechanics thanks to Professor M. Fraldi. My Bachelor\'s thesis aimed to describe and explain the simplest single-cell model that incorporates pre-stress and non-linear elasticity. This experience highly motivated me to pursue this path.During my two years in the Master\'s program, it was again the influence of Professor M. Fraldi and Professor C. Menna, as well as my readings of Y.C. Fung, one of the founders of modern biomechanics, that helped me understand my true calling. I have participated in:1. A case study on how microbubbles combined with antagomirs and ultrasound can be used as gene therapy to improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction, thereby preventing heart failure.2. Mechanical characterization of human and porcine aortas through monoaxial and biaxial tensile tests.3. The ITACA research project (Impact of Thoracic Aortic Disease Endovascular Treatment on Cardiac Function) under the supervision of Professor M. Conti and Professor S. Morganti (University of Pavia), where the main focus was evaluating the impact of TEVAR implantation on cardiac function through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of thoracic aorta domains (CT segmentation) of patients with aneurysms.Despite these accomplishments, I faced many challenges in finding my path in alignment with the person I wanted to become. After nearly a year, I am confident that I am in the right place, doing the right thing.