Dr. Marina Kameneva is Research Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Professor of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, and Director of the Artificial Blood Program at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Kameneva received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Mathematics and Mechanics at Moscow State University (former Soviet Union) and then worked at the Research Institute of Mechanics of Moscow State University. After emigration to the United States, Dr. Kameneva joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh as a Visiting Scientist of the Artificial Heart and Lung Program and was appointed as a Research Assistant Professor of Surgery in 1996, as a Research Associate Professor of Surgery in 2000, and as Research Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering in 2006.

Dr. Kameneva’s major areas of expertise are biorheology, hemorheology, macro- and microhemodynamics, drag-reducing polymers (DRPs) with their potential biomedical applications for improvement of blood flow conditions, and mechanical blood trauma in artificial organs. Her current research interests include: 1.) Basic rheological phenomena in normal and pathological blood; 2.) Effects of drag reducing polymers (DRPs) on blood circulation specifically related to their ability to modulate traffic of blood cells in microvessels; 3.) Application of DRPs to reduce ischemia/reperfusion injury and inflammation; 4.) Application of the DRPs for preventing extravasation of circulating tumor cells; 5.) Artificial blood and DRP microhemodynamic phenomena; 6.) Modification of RBC’s intracellular fluid for potential treatment of sickle cell disease (Development of the method for reduction of alloimmunization in patients with sickle cell disease); and 7.) Search for the cause of blood trauma and its reduction in blood-contacting artificial organs.

Dr. Kameneva’s major research project is related to discovery and investigation of the remarkably beneficial hemodynamic effects of special blood-soluble molecules, so called drag-reducing polymers (DRPs). IV or IP nanomolar concentrations of DRPs were shown in Dr. Kameneva’s and other’s experimental studies to significantly improve blood circulation, and especially microcirculation, outcomes in animal models of severe hemorrhagic shock, myocardial ischemia, inflammation, and other pathological conditions demonstrating improvement of impaired hemodynamics and animal conditions/survival. Dr. Kameneva is investigating the hemodynamic effects of DRPs and specifically mechanisms of these effects near four decades, first at the Moscow State University (USSR) and then at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Over the past two decades, she has been a PI and co-PI of grants from private foundations, and from NIH, DARPA, DOD, etc. She is working on collaborative projects with Cornell University (Ithaca and Carnegie Mellon University); University of New Mexico; Anesthesiology Department, Magee Hospital, University of Pittsburgh; and others.

Dr. Kameneva is the co-inventor on U.S. Patent Nos. 9,763,975 (Rheological treatment of brain ischemia by drag reducing polymers) and 10,792,304 (Hemorheologic approach for reduction/prevention of cancer metastasis formation).

Dr. Kameneva is the first or corresponding author of over 400 peer reviewed journal articles, conference/symposia proceedings, and abstracts, as well as several book chapters and monographs in the areas of Fluid Mechanics, Bioengineering, and Biorheology.

Currently, as a Director of the Hemorheology, Hemodynamics and Artificial Blood Research Laboratory, Dr. Kameneva is working with her research team and collaborators on a variety of projects ranging from the testing of new medical blood contacting devices to performing experimental research related to novel rheological methods for potential treatment of various acute and chronic diseases.

Dr. Kameneva was/is a PI and Co-PI of many federal and private foundation grants. She serves on the Editorial Boards of the ASAIO Journal since 1996 and Journal of Biorheology. She is Elected Council Member of the International Society for Biorheology. Dr. Kameneva is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering since 2002. She is an invited speaker for many national and international conferences and symposia.

Visit the Kameneva Lab website here.

View a list of selected Dr. Kameneva’s publications here or here.

Data on Dr. Kameneva’s publications follow, cited by View All:

Citations: 3705 (all); 1298 (since 2015)
h-index: 35 (all); 22 (since 2015)
i10-index: 77 (all); 42 (since 2015)