Research in Action: - University of Calgary

Deep in the ocean, hydrothermal vents spew out boiling water from inside the Earth, which then spirals
upward and swirls into pockets of eddies. It was while studying this phenomenon in graduate school that
Dr. Kristina Rinker, a University of Calgary biomedical engineering specialist, first drew a connection.
“I realized there were actually some similarities with what’s going on in the human body,” says Rinker, an
associate professor at the Schulich School of Engineering.
12 UofC Research in Action
Targeting blood clots
Still intrigued by this similarity years later, Rinker began studying how flowing blood can impact the way in
which white blood cells stick to artery walls, a normal function of the immune system. For people with
cardiovascular disease, something in this process gets out of balance, and over time, sores or plaques form
in the spots where the white blood cells are concentrated. Eventually, these plaques can rupture, causing the
formation of a clot that blocks the flow of blood and results in either a heart attack or a stroke. Rinker and
her team of researchers in the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Research Laboratory have developed
experimental models that mimic the flow in blood vessels, and support cell cultures for long periods of time.
These systems allow specific investigations into cardiovascular disease through a focus on “target cells”—the
cells that line artery walls and act as gatekeepers for the passage of nutrients and biochemicals from the blood
into the vessel tissue.
“Now we can look molecularly inside the cell to investigate how blood flow properties influence plaque formation,
and how new drugs may encourage plaque stabilization or regression [thus preventing blood clots], says Rinker,
associate professor in both the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and the Centre for
Bioengineering Research and Education. Located in the university’s Calgary Centre for Innovative Technology, the
lab has become an incubator of cutting-edge research that draws on the work of graduate students and worldclass
expertise in multiple disciplines.
Bridging the gaps
“A lot of our work is just now starting to have an impact,” Rinker says. Cardiovascular disease is the leading
cause of death in Canada and costs the health-care system more than $18 billion annually. Rinker hopes her
research will eventually help make new cardiovascular therapies more effective. “We’re starting to get to
some real novel approaches for cardiovascular stent design, testing and surgical procedures. The hope is that
through integrating molecular and applied research approaches, the cardiovascular community will be able to
understand each others’ problems more effectively, and we will achieve some major breakthroughs.”
schulich.ucalgary.ca/biomedical
schulich.ucalgary.ca/node/237
Dr. Kristina Rinker’s research
focuses on mimicking the flow in
blood vessels. This is important
for preventing blood clots that
cause heart attacks and strokes.