Babak Naghizadeh Safa, PhD

Dr. Safa is a postdoctoral fellow in Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in Professor Ross Ethier’s laboratory, studying ocular mechanics and glaucoma. He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering (2019) from the University of Delaware, where he studied tendon damage mechanics, nonlinear inelasticity, and mechano-structural analysis of tendon at Professor Dawn Elliott’s lab– dissertation title “Analysis and Modeling of Inelasticity in Tendon: Viscoelasticity, Plastic Deformation, and Damage.” Dr. Safa’s research interests include soft tissue mechanics, with a focus on ocular and orthopedic tissues. In his studies, he utilizes designing and conducting experimental procedures for tissue mechanics analysis, continuum mechanics modeling/finite element analysis, three-dimensional microstructural analysis, and mechanobiology. This BrightFocus funded project will both utilize the applicant’s background and allow him to gain new skills (e.g. cell culture/phenotyping) to pursue his independent academic career. Babak has received a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2014. He is originally from Tabriz, Iran, where he got a diploma in physics and mathematics from Madani high school (NODET). Besides his academic pursuit, he is also a musician, composer, and member Dalga music group, an Azerbaijani Ashiq music group. He also was a member of the Iranian national Astronomy and Astrophysics student Olympiad team and had several medals in national and international Astronomy student Olympiads.