New MSRI Lecture Series Links Mathematics and Medicine

April 24, 2009

The key role that mathematics has played in the design and functioning of medical devices is the subject of the first of a new series of public presentations organized by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, Calif. "The Math behind the Cath: The Inside Story of Stents, Pacemakers, and Other Medical Miracles," scheduled for May 4, 2009, will feature stars in their respective worlds: Joseph Berglund and Robert J. Lang.

Medical researcher Berglund will present an overview of innovative cardiovascular devices and the mathematics behind the inventions, as well as what developments may materialize in the future.

Berglund, who is the Principal R&D Engineer at Medtronic CardioVascular (Santa Rosa, Calif.), received his undergraduate training in biomedical engineering, materials science, and applied mathematics at Johns Hopkins University. He received his doctorate at Georgia Tech, where his research included working on biosynthetic blood vessel substitutes for by-pass surgery. His current projects vary from developing the next generation of drug-eluting stents, to designing bioabsorbable devices, to identifying and evaluating therapy options.

Artist-engineer-origami specialist Lang will demonstrate how the introduction of mathematics into the centuries-old Japanese art of origami has led to solutions to folding problems that have enabled origami designs of astounding complexity and realism. Moreover, as often happens in mathematics, theory has led to surprising practical applications: algorithms and theorems of origami, for instance, have proved useful in designing proteins, membranes, and numerous medical devices.

Lang, a pioneer in computational origami and the development of formal design algorithms for folding, has become one of the foremost origami artists in the world. He is rightly famous for the beauty of his origami figures and his applications of mathematics to paper folding and of paper folding to practical devices in medicine and physics. A full-time artist and consultant on origami and its applications to engineering problems, Lang is also Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

Holding a doctorate in applied physics from Caltech, Lang has, during the course of work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Spectra Diode Laboratories, and JDS Uniphase, written more than 80 papers. He has 45 patents in lasers and optoelectronics as well as eight books and a CD-ROM on origami.

Berglund and Lang will be joined by David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley) and Bob Osserman (MSRI) for a discussion following their presentations.

This event and subsequent programs in the new "Mathematics + Medicine" lecture series will take place at Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater.

Source: Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.