EDUCATION

University of California, Berkeley, CA                       Ph.D.       2008                    Mechanical Engineering

University of California, Berkeley, CA                       M.S.         2005                    Mechanical Engineering

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN                        B.S.          2003                    Mechanical Engineering

APPOINTMENTS

2011 – present:            Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky, Department of Mechanical Engineering

2011 – present:                        Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky, Department of Surgery

2009 – 2011:               Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Department of Bioengineering and Department of Surgery

2008 – 2009:               Research Consultant, CardioPolymers, Inc. (formerly Symphony Medical, Inc.)

2005 – 2008:               Summer Scholar, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

2004:                           Summer Intern, Sandia National Laboratory

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Zhao, X., Wenk, J. F., Burger, M., Liu, Y., Das, M. K., Combs, W., Ge, L., Guccione, J. M., and Kassab, G. S., 2011, “Simulation of Mechanical Environment in Active Lead Fixation: Effect of Lead Helix Size,” ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 133(6), 061006.
2. Wenk, J. F., Sun, K., Zhang, Z., Soleimani, M., Ge, L., Saloner, D. A., Wallace, A. W., Ratcliffe, M. B., and Guccione, J. M., 2011, “Regional Left Ventricular Myocardial Contractility and Stress in a Finite Element Model of Posterobasal Myocardial Infarction,” ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 133(4), 044501.
3. Zhao, X., Burger, M., Liu, Y., Das, M. K., Combs, W., Wenk, J. F., Guccione, J. M., and Kassab, G. S., 2011, “Simulation of LV Pacemaker Lead in Marginal Vein: Potential Risk Factors for Acute Dislodgement,” ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 133(3), 031006.
4. Wenk, J. F., 2011, “Numerical Modeling of Stress in Stenotic Arteries with Microcalcifications: A Parameter Sensitivity Study,” ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 133(1), 014503.
5. Wenk, J. F., Papadopoulos, P., and Zohdi, T. I., 2010, “Numerical Modeling of Stress in Stenotic Arteries with Microcalcifications: A Micromechanical Approximation,” ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 132(9), 091011.
6. Sun, K., Zhang, Z., Suzuki, T., Wenk, J. F., Stander, N., Einstein, D. R., Saloner, D. A., Wallace, A. W., Guccione, J. G., and Ratcliffe, M. B., 2010, “Dor Procedure for Dyskinetic Anteroapical Left Ventricular Aneurysm Fails to Improve Myocardial Contractility in the Borderzone,” Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 140(1), pp. 233-239.
7. Wenk, J. F., Zhang, Z., Cheng, G., Malhotra, D., Acevedo-Bolton, G., Burger, M., Suzuki, T., Saloner, D. A., Wallace, A. W., Guccione, J. G., and Ratcliffe, M. B., 2010, “First Finite Element Model of the Left Ventricle with Mitral Valve: Insights into Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation,” Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 89(5), pp. 1546-1553.
8. Jhun, C.-S., Wenk, J. F., Zhang, Z., Wall, S. T., Sun, K., Sabbah, H. N., Ratcliffe, M. B., and Guccione, J. M., 2010, “Effect of Adjustable Passive Constraint on the Failing Left Ventricle: A Finite Element Model Study,” Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 89(1), pp. 132-138.
9. Wenk, J. F., Wall, S. T., Peterson, R. C., Helgerson, S. L., Sabbah, H. N., Burger, M., Stander, N., Ratcliffe, M. B., and Guccione, J. M., 2009, “A Method for Automatically Optimizing Medical Devices for Treating Heart Failure: Designing Polymeric Injection Patterns,” ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 131(12), 121011.

Accepted for publication

1. Wenk, J. F., Eslami, P., Zhang, Z., Xu, C., Kuhl, E., Gorman III, J. H., Robb, J. D., Ratcliffe, M. B., Gorman, R. C., and Guccione, J. M., “A Novel Method for Quantifying the In-Vivo Mechanical Effect of Material Injected into a Myocardial Infarction,” Annals of Thoracic Surgery, accepted on April 26, 2011, (MS# ATS/2011/294207).