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       Movin' and Groovin'
A look into the life and work of Dr. Lisa Fauci
Dr. Lisa Fauci is a highly esteemed Professor of Mathematics at Tulane University.  There, she teaches and researches biological fluid dynamics with
a grant from the National Science Foundation.  Professor Fauci went to Pace University in New York, and recieved her PhD in mathematics from New
York University.  Her work with biological fluid dynamics includes developing mathematical, computerized models of microorganism mobility.
She has two children, and her husband is also a faculty member of Tulane University.
One of Lisa Fauci's amazing contributions to science is her model of sperm mobility.  She has created a computer model that mimics the motion of
sperm under different conditions.  The program has to take into account the elasticity of walls, the phase locking of sperm, and ciliary activity.
To do this, Dr. Fauci calculates the forces on the sperm and on the fluid surrounding it.  This is done with Navier-Stokes equations, such as the one
shown below:
r(du/dt + u l u) = -p + m   u +F (x,t)
Solving these equations plots points on graphs:
                                                   
Equations are plugged into the computer.  What happens in each square is stored in the computer. With this data, Lisa Fauci is able to mimic sperm
movement and analyse sperm behavior.  This same technique can also be applied to the flagellum and cillium of other things, such as bacteria.  One
interesting thing that Dr. Fauci investigated was phase locking, which is the synchronized movement of two flagella next to each other.  According
to fluid dynamics, this the most energy efficient way for two organisms to move.
                                                  
She also investigates the change in results when the sperm are enclosed by rigid walls, flexible wall, or no walls at all.  She has found that multiple
sperm swimming in a rigid wall environment will swim towards the edges while spem swimming in a no walls environment will swim toward each other.
The study of biological fluid dynamics began in the early 1960's when fluid dynamics was first applied to biology.  Within the study of
biological fluid dynamics are topics such as studying blood flow in the heart, vessels, and other organs, air flow through the lungs, platelet aggregation
in blood clotting, and micro-organism mobility.  However, biological fluid dynamics is much more complicated than to regular fluid dynamics.  Biological
fluid dynamics must take into account time dependent flows and geometries, large deformations, and fluid structure interactions.
The information found in this research is very beneficial because it helps scientists and doctors understand how different drugs distribute
through the body and how quickly they react.
 
made by Jenna Vanliere, Faon Bridges, and Lauren Fath  for our Math 61: Perspectives on Science class
last updated: December 4, 2000