Today, we celebrate the achievements and contributions of women and girls in science around the world. A special shout-out to our colleagues Beata Ondrusova, Minha Anees Msc, and Laura Füssel, as well as all the inspiring women students, colleagues and collaborators we have the pleasure of working with 👏
Let’s keep supporting, encouraging, and celebrating women in science, today and every day 🔬✨!
Most recent Thursday, we presented our latest research at the 4th TNF-MED Interaction, organised by the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (TNF) together with the Faculty of Medicine (MED) at Johannes Kepler University. The TNF-MED Interaction is designed to share recent research and, more importantly, to strengthen collaboration between engineering, natural sciences, and medicine.
🔹 Neurooncology
Our medical collaborator Philip-Rudolf Rauch from the Department of Neurosurgery at Kepler Universitätsklinikum GmbH (KUK) showed how digital twins can be used to study the progression of glioma tumours. This work, carried out in collaboration with Luca Gerardo-Giorda and Davide Baroli, demonstrates the value of close collaboration between researchers and clinicians.
🔹 Cardiac interventions
Our group leader Luca Gerardo-Giorda presented our latest results on in-silico modelling of ablation treatments, with a particular focus on cardiac applications of radiofrequency and pulsed-field ablation. This research is primarily led by Argyrios Petras and his team of undergraduate and graduate students.
🔹 VV-ECMO
Beata Ondrusova, our postdoctoral researcher, shared recent results on the use of computational fluid dynamics to study patient-specific blood flow patterns in VV-ECMO patients. This work is carried out in close collaboration with Jens Meier, head of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine at Kepler Universitätsklinikum GmbH.
We really appreciated the opportunity not only to present our work, but also to learn about the research of other groups and explore potential collaborations. Many thanks to the organisers for putting together such a well-run and inspiring event 👏 . We are looking forward to future editions of TNF-MED! 🥳
⏳ Final Call for Abstracts: CMBE2026 Minisymposium
There is less than one month left to submit your work for our upcoming minisymposium at the 9th International Conference on Computational and Mathematical Biomedical Engineering (CMBE2026) in Kobe, Japan.
📍 MS4: Personalization and Uncertainty Quantification in Digital Twins for Medical Applications
As we move toward high-fidelity digital twins in healthcare, addressing the challenges of patient-specific tuning and the quantification of uncertainty is more critical than ever. We invite you to contribute your latest research to our MS4.
Key Details:
📅 Submission Deadline: 16 February 2026
🗓️ Conference Dates: 22 – 24 June 2026
🌏 Location: Kobe International Conference Center, Japan
🔗 Submit here: https://lnkd.in/dPcwVYjq
Organizers:
• Argyrios Petras (RICAM)
• Matthias G. (Medical University of Graz)
• Elias Karabelas (University of Graz, NumeriCor GmbH)
• Sebastian Brandstäter (University of the Bundeswehr Munich)
We look forward to seeing your innovative work and connecting with you in Kobe this summer! 🇯🇵
A warm welcome to Matteo Micocci, the newest member of our Linz Lab for In-Silico Medical Interventions!
Matteo earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, where he developed a model to predict the positioning of foot bones when subjected to mechanical load. To further his studies, he pursued a Master’s degree in Biomechanics at the Politecnico di Torino.
Now working at our lab for his Master’s thesis under the supervision of Davide Baroli, Matteo is focusing on the simulation of aortic coarctation, a condition affecting pediatric patients. His research aims to create a computational model that can enhance the understanding of the disease by considering both short- and long-term effects to help optimize patient outcomes.
Outside the lab, Matteo is passionate about sports and the outdoors, with a love for mountain hiking 🥾, climbing 🏔️ , and running 🏃 . Living so close to the Alps, he is eager to explore the surrounding peaks and trails.
Wishing Matteo an inspiring journey with us! We’re excited for the ideas and energy he’ll bring to the team. 🎉
As 2025 comes to an end, we’re taking a moment to reflect on our work, collaborations, and community over the past year. Some highlights of this year include:
🔹 Publications: Published 3 scientific papers and 5 conference papers on topics including pulsed field ablation, radiofrequency ablation, laser ablation, ECMO, and cardiovascular modelling, with more forthcoming.
🔸 Conferences & Events: Participated in 15 conferences and workshops, presenting our current research and gaining up-to-date knowledge.
🔹 Team Growth: Welcomed 3 new members to our team.
🔸 Mentoring: Mentored 7 students (2 PhD, 2 MSc and 3 BSc) and hosted 3 foreign students.
🔷 Grants & Funding: 4 third-party funding sources to support research on radiofrequency ablation, pulsed field ablation and ECMO.
🔸 Digital Presence: Launched our website (https://lnkd.in/ekrHK43B) and YouTube channel (https://lnkd.in/dZ75uHZa) to share research updates and resources.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported and inspired us in 2025! ❤️
May 2026 be filled with new opportunities, exciting discoveries, and meaningful connections. Wishing a happy, healthy, and inspiring 2026 to all! 🎉✨
Our colleague Minha Anees Msc spent the month of November at the Modelling Department at IHU LIRYC - Heart rhythm disease Institute in Bordeaux, working under the expert guidance of Ed Vigmond, focusing on cardiac cellular electrophysiology models.
During her time there, Minha worked extensively with openCARP, gained hands-on experience in setting up simulation pipelines💻, and strengthened her skills in interpreting complex electrophysiological modelling outputs 🫀.
We sincerely thank Ed Vigmond and the entire team for their warm welcome and support 🤝. We are excited to see how Minha applies her new knowledge and skills to advance her work!✨
We were delighted to host Michela Sabbatino, a PhD student from the Università di Trento, at our lab last week. Michela’s research focuses on developing a spatial epidemiological model to describe and predict the spread of West Nile Virus 🦠🗺️ in Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy), an increasingly important topic in infectious disease modelling.
During her stay, she worked under the supervision of Luca Gerardo-Giorda, deepening her expertise in advanced numerical simulations 💻 and the finite element method applied to real-world epidemiological challenges. We were impressed by her dedication and scientific curiosity, and we look forward to seeing how her work progresses 🚀.
Thank you, Michela, for your great work, and we hope to welcome you back soon!👏
We’re delighted that Laura Füssel continues her journey with us at the Linz Lab for In-Silico Medical Interventions!
Laura, a master’s student in Industrial Mathematics at Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, recently successfully defended her bachelor’s thesis 🎓 on the comparison of in-vitro experiments and in-vivo applications of Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA), a treatment for cardiac arrhythmia, conducted under the guidance of Argyrios Petras and Luca Gerardo-Giorda.
She will continue contributing to our ongoing research, with a focus on computational modeling in Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA). Her work aims to simulate the PFA procedure, with a particular focus on modeling the interaction between the catheter and cardiac tissue through advanced contact mechanics simulations. This work is supported by the FFG Austrian Research Promotion Agency BRIDGE project obtained by Argyrios Petras in collaboration with NumeriCor GmbH.
Outside her busy academic schedule, Laura enjoys going for a run 🏃♀️ and travelling to explore the world ✈️.
We’re looking forward to her continued contributions and wish her all the best in this next phase of her journey!🚀
