Bilal Shafi received his BSE and MSE in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania focusing on biomechanics and instrument design. After receiving his MD from Thomas Jefferson he completed a residency in General Surgery and is currently a fellow in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Bilal completed the Stanford Biodesign program where he started two companies focusing on medical devices, SurgSolutions and COR.

Karen Havenstrite received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. Her thesis work focused on developing mechanically tunable hydrogels to demonstrate that stem cell self-renewal is regulated by matrix stiffness. She is developing and characterizing a novel in-situ polymer material to provide optimal support to the heart following MI.

Ryan received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly, SLO and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering (theoretical mechanics) from UC Berkeley. His graduate work focused on the computational modeling (finite element methods) of biological tissues under large deformations and in vivo loading conditions. He previously worked for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories for eight years, where he was an experimental device engineer.

Cody Johnson received his degree in Integrative Physiology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. As an undergraduate student Cody was a research intern in a laboratory focusing on translational research in cardiovascular aging. Upon graduation he was offered a professional position on the research staff. His assigned project focused on clinical interventional therapies to inhibit age associated stiffening of the large elastic arteries.