PhD Spotlight: Sam Salinas, PhD’22 – Bioengineering
Sam Salinas, PhD’22, bioengineering, earned his undergraduate degree is in Aerospace and Mechanical engineering. After working a few years in the biomedical industry he decided to go back to school. He had the privilege to work in the Amini lab for soft tissue biomechanics. In particular, he researched the Tricuspid valve anterior leaflet. Because elastin, a native protein, imparts specific mechanical properties on the leaflet during the cardiac cycle, it is important to quantify how elastin influences the biomechanics of the valve leaflets. This is particularly important when studying Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder, where native elastin is severely compromised and/or fragmented potentially leading to tricuspid regurgitation.
Salinas was able to secure a position as Missile Systems Engineer with Lockheed Martin.
He says he never knew how much he would miss Boston, until he left Boston.