Education and Outreach

Guilherme J. M. Garcia , Ph.D.

Division of Computational Biology

Education

B.S., physics, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1999.
M.S., physics, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2001.
Ph.D., physics, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2005.
Postdoctoral training, Division of Computational Biology, CIIT Centers for Health Research, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 2005-present.

Research

Under the direction of Dr. Julia Kimbell, my research at The Hamner Institutes aims at describing the airflow patterns in the human nose with applications to otolaryngology, toxicology and nasal drug delivery. Using computed tomography (CT) scans of real patients, we reconstruct the nasal anatomy by means of computational models and physical replicas. These models are used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments to investigate the airflow patterns. The computational models also predict how the nasal cavity heats, humidifies and filters inhaled air. We are working towards correlating patient-specific nasal symptoms with quantitative data obtained through such models.

Publications

Garcia, G. J.M., Bailie, N., Martins, D. A., and Kimbell, J. S. (2007). Atrophic rhinitis: A CFD study of air conditioning in the nasal cavity. J. Appl. Physiol., June 14, Epub. ahead of print.

Carey, S. A., Minard, K. R., Trease, L. L., Wagner, J. G., Garcia, G. J. M., Ballinger, C. A., Kimbell, J. S. Plopper, C. G., Corley, R. A., Postlethwait, E. M., and Harkema, J. R. (2007). Three-dimensional mapping of ozone-induced injury in the nasal airways of monkeys using magnetic resonance imaging and morphometric techniques. Toxicol. Pathol. 35, 27-40.

da Silva, J. K. L., Garcia, G. J M.., and Barbosa, L. A. (2006). Allometric scaling laws of metabolism. Phys. Life Rev. 3, 229-261.

Garcia, G. J. M. and da Silva, J. K. L. (2006). Interspecific allometry of bone dimensions: A review of the theoretical models. Phys. Life Rev. 3, 188-209.

Barbosa, L.A., Garcia, G. J. M. and da Silva, J.K.L. (2006). The scaling of maximum and basal metabolic rates of mammals and birds. Physica A 359, 547-554.

Dickman, R. and Garcia, G. J. M. (2005). Absorbing-state phase transitions with external dynamics. Physical Review E 71, article 066113.

Garcia, G. J. M. and da Silva, J. K. L. (2004). On the scaling of mammalian long bones. J. Exp. Biol. 207, 1577-1584.

Garcia, G. J. M. and Dickman, R. (2004). Asymmetric dynamics and critical behavior in the Bak-Sneppen model. Physica A 342, 516-528.

Garcia, G. J. M. and Dickman, R. (2004). On singular probability densities generated by extremal dynamics. Physica A 332, 318-336.

Garcia, G. J. M. and Dickman, R. (2004). On the thresholds, probability densities, and critical exponents of Bak-Sneppen-like models. Physica A 342, 164-170.

Kokshenev, V. B., da Silva, J. K.L., and Garcia, G.J.M. (2003). Long-bone allometry of terrestrial mammals and the geometric-shape and elastic-force constraints of bone evolution. J. Theor. Biol. 224, 551-556.