B.S. (Ch.E. and Math.), Cooper Union
M.S.(Ch.E.), Ph.D.(Ch.E.), University of California at Berkeley
NSF Presidential Young Investigator

Reaction engineering; transport and reaction aspects of artery disease; hydrodynamics of two phase flow in tubes

A chemical engineer's perspective, considering chemical and biological changes as kinetic reactions and focusing on transport, can often offer a fresh approach to problems in biology. Our group has been studying the initiation of arterial disease. We have developed kinetic models from the extensive historic data of Brown and Goldstein for the processes by which many human cells take up and process blood-borne cholesterol and for how they maintain cholesterol homeostasis. In addition, together with Professor Shu Chien (University of California, San Diego ) and S. Weinbaum, we have been developing very successful models to decipher the earliest stages of arterial (intimal) cholesterol lesion formation. These models, in conjunction with animal experiments at UCSD, explain the transendothelial transport of lipoprotein cholesterol and subsequent spread within the artery wall. Current work is linking this transport to the kinetics of formation and growth of subendothelial extracellular lipid liposomes and to the cellular processes discussed above for dissipating them. The aim is to show how these steps comprise the earliest steps and how they can lead to lesion formation.

Another area that our group has focused on is the stability, both linear and nonlinear, of two-phase core-annular flows. The geometric distribution of two fluids in a conduit or pore is crucial to problems as diverse as recovering oil from rock pores to low cost pipe-transport of heavy crudes to the plugging of alveoli that hampers breathing in premature babies. In the absence of flow, we have shown that if one fluid is electrolytic, double layers at the wall and at the fluid-fluidinterfacecan stabilize the capillary instability. For situations with flow, we have developed methods for asymptotically thin films that clearly separate out the physical effect that compete to determine the interface's stability. Combination with Bretherton's theory gives a stability relation for liquid-liquid displacements. Asymptotic nonlinear results show how a base flow can interact both linearly and nonlinearly to stabilize other linearly destabilizing mechanisms and can mitigrate the tendency in the absence of a second fluid for the interface to lapse into chaotic motions. Current boundary-integral calculations hope to follow growing instabilities to break up. In addition we are investigating the effects of pore corrugation and other nonidealities.

Finally, recent work with Dr. Lee Walters at the Scripps Research Institute is aimed at developing new experimental techniques for increasing the time-resolution of FTIR spectroscopy by at least an order of magnitude to the sub-millisecond regime. The goal is to observe early time intermediates in protein refolding.

Selected Recent Publications

Chauhan, A. Maldarelli, C., Papageorgiou, D. and Rumschitzki, D., “The temporal instability of a compound thread,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 420, 1-25 (2000).

Wei, H. H. and Rumschitzki, D., “The linear stability of a core annular flow in a corrugated tube,” IUTAM Symposium on nonlinear wave behavior in multi-phase flows, Kluwer, 57, 127-138 (2000).

Liu, K., Fung, S.C., Ho, T.C. and Rumschitzki, D., "Heptane reforming over Pt-Re/Al2O3: Reaction network, kinetics and apparent selective catalyst deactivation ;" J. Catalysis, 206, 188-201 March (2002).

Wei, H.H. and Rumschitzki, D., “The linear instability of a core-annular flow in an asymptotically corrugated tube, “ Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 466, 113-147 (2002).

Wei, H.H. and Rumschitzki, D., “The weakly non-linear instability of a core-annular flow in a corrugated tube, “ Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 466, 149-177 (2002).

Liu, K., Fung, S.C., Ho, T.C. and Rumschitzki, D., "Hydrogasification of coke in heptane reforming over Pt-Re/Al2O3,“ I & EC Research, 42, 1543-50 (2003).

Chauhan, A., Maldarelli, C., Rumschitzki, D., and Papageorgiou, D., "An experimental investigation of the convective instability in a jet," Chemical Eng. Sci., 58(11), 2421-32  (2003).

Wei, H.H. and Rumschitzki, D. S., “The effect of insoluble surfactants on the linear instability of a core-annular flow,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics,  541, 115-142  (2005).

Chauhan, A., Maldarelli, C., Papageorgiou, D. and Rumschitzki, D., "The absolute instability of a compound, two-phase jet," Journal of Fluid Mechanics,  549, 81-98  (2006).

Vannozzi. C., Fiotentino, D., D’Amore, M., Rumschitzki, D.S., Dress, A. and Mauri, R. Cellular automata model of phase transition in binary mixtures,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 45(8), 2892-2896 (2006).

Shou, Y., Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D.S., “Transport in rat vessels: I. The hydraulic conductivities of the aorta, pulmonary artery and inferior vena cava with intact and denuded endothelia,” American J. Physiol Heart Circ. Physiol,. 291, H2758-2771  (2006).

Shou, Y., Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D. S., “Transport in rat vessel walls II: Macromolecular leakage and focal spot size growth in arteries and veins,” American J. Physiol Heart Circ. Physiol., 292, H2881-2890 (2007).

Zeng, Z., Yin, Yongyi, Huang, Anli, Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D. S., “Macromolecular transport in heart valves I: Studies with horseradish peroxidase,” the American J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol, 292, H2664-2670 (2007).

Zeng, Z., Yin, Yongyi,  Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D. S., “Macromolecular transport in heart valves II: Theoretical models,” American J. Physiol Heart Circ. Physiol., 292, H2671-2686 (2007).

Zeng, Z., Yin, Yongyi,  Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D. S., “Macromolecular transport in heart valves III: Experiment and theory for the size distribution of extracellular liposomes in hyperlipidemic rabbits,” the American J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol, 292, H2687-2697 (2007).

Balsim, I., Neimark, M.A. and Rumschitzki, DS, "Harmonic solutions of a mixed boundary value problem arising in the modeling of macromolecular transport into vessel walls, "Computers and mathematics with applications, 59, 1897-1908 (2010).

Zeng Z, Jan KM and Rumschitzki DS, "A theory for water and macromolecular transport in the pulmonary artery wall with a detailed comparison to the aorta," Amer. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 302:H1683-H1699, 2012.

Balsim, I., Joshi, S. and Rumschitzki, DS, "Analysis and Computation of the Pressure Field of the Pre-Atherosclerotic Transport in the Artery Wall," SIAM Journal of Applied Mathematics, 73(5), 1853-1875, 2013.

Zheng, L., Lee, TH and Rumschitzki, D., "Shrinkage of bubbles and drops in the lattice Boltzmann equation method for nonideal gases," Phys. Rev. E, 89, 033302, 2014.

J

Nguyen, T., Toussaint, Y., Xue, Y., Raval, C., Cancel, L, Russell, S., Shou, Y., Sedes, O., Sun, Y., Yakobov, R., Tarbell, J.M., Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D. S., “Aquaporin-1 facilitates pressure-driven water flow across the aortic endothelium,” Amer. J. Physiol. Heart Circ., online 10.1152/ajpheart.00499 2014; in print: 308(9) 1051, 2015.

Joshi, S., Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D.S., “Aquaporin-1 shifts the critical transmural pressure needed to compress the aortic intima: Fluid mechanics models,” Amer. J. Physiol., Heart Circ., 309(11), H1974-1986, 2015.

Toussaint, J., Raval, C. Nguyen, T., Fadaifard, H., Joshi, S., Wolberg, Quarfordt, S., G., Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzki, D.S., “Chronic hypertension increases aortic endothelial hydraulic conductivity by upregulating endothelial auqaporin-1 expression,” AJP Heart Circ., ajpheart 00651, 2017

Joshi, S., Jan, K.M. and Rumschitzk, D.S., Pre-atherosclerotic flow and oncotically active solute transport across the arterial endothelium, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 499, 110275, 2020

Zheng, P., Rumschitzki, D and Edwards, RH, "High speed imaging reveals the bimodel nature of dense core vesicle exocytosis and jet flow through the fusion pore," Elife, in review 2021

I have a courtesy appointment at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center/ Allen Pavilion, Department of Cardiology/Medicine

I am also a member of the CUNY Chemistry PhD program is in the Biophysics subprogram

I am also a member of the CUNY Biology PhD program is in the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCD) subprogram