Dr. Drapaca joins the ESM department as an assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics. Dr. Drapaca received her Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her thesis was entitled: “Brain Biomechanics: Dynamical Morphology and Non-linear Viscoelastic Models of Hydrocephalus”. Since then, she has held post-doctoral fellowships in the Department of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco, the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, and the Department of Physiology and biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester. Dr. Drapaca also holds the title of Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, Canada.

A highly respected theorist on the biomechanics of hydrocephalus, Dr. Drapaca’s computational modeling of hydrocephalus promises world-wide impact through enhanced understanding of this medical condition, improved treatments, and contributions to a hydrocephalus imaging project for the developing world.

Dr. Drapaca will be working collaboratively with Drs. Schiff and Gluckman, the Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences, and the Department of Neurosurgery at the Milton S. Hershey School of Medicine.