Researcher exploring mechanics of cardiovascular tissues

Dr. Taisiya Sigaeva, PhD, an assistant professor in the departments of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering, recently joined the Libin Cardiovascular Institute.   

Her research focuses on the biomechanics of the soft tissues of the skin and cardiovascular tissues, such as the aorta and aortic valves, with the goal of better understanding how these tissues respond under in vivo loadings (mechanical loads applied to study these tissues). 

“Nature is the best designer, so to fix or recreate these tissues, we need to understand why they are designed in this way,” says Sigaeva. “That’s my vision.”

According to Sigaeva, the underlying fibers, such as collagen and elastic fibers, govern tissue mechanical response. In the presence of injury, disease and even as part of the aging process, these responses change. Sigaeva and her team can track this tissue degradation by looking at the fibers. 

For example, aortic aneurysms, or bulges in the aortic vessel, change the mechanics of the aortic tissue, causing it to become too stiff, too pliable, or a combination of both. These changes may be a result of changes in blood flow and pressure in the aorta, but the exact mechanics behind this aren’t known. 

According to Sigaeva, better understanding this degradation process is a step forward in managing aortic aneurysms, which are often fatal if they rupture. 

Sigaeva earned her PHD at the University of Alberta and completed three postdoctoral fellowships: one at York University in mechanical engineering and two at the University of Calgary (UCalgary)—in mechanical/manufacturing engineering and biomedical engineering.

She served for three years as faculty at the University of Waterloo before joining UCalgary’s faculty in September 2023. 

Sigaeva shares lab space and collaborates with Dr. Elena Di Martino, her former supervisor, whose research focuses on advancing fundamental knowledge on tissue remodelling in healthy and diseased vascular tissue. 

Sigaeva welcomes potential collaborations within the Libin Institute as she pursues more areas of interest in cardiovascular tissue function, such as coarctation, a congenital aortic defect that associated with vessel wall narrowing making it difficult for blood to flow through the body, and tricuspid valve regurgitation, a dangerous congenital condition in which heart valves fail to close properly.

You can reach her at tais.sigaeva@ucalgary.ca.