Julius M. Guccione PhD

Julius M. Guccione, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus in the UCSF Department of Surgery, specializing in realistic simulation of the efficacy of novel surgical procedures and devices for treating ischemic cardiomyopathy. He graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University. He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UCSD. He completed a research fellowship in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Guccione's research interests include the development and validation of a non-invasive method for estimating regional myocardial contractility in vivo. Such a method would be of great value in the design and evaluation of new surgical and medical strategies to treat and/or prevent infarction-induced heart failure. In 2012, he published the first evidence of depressed contractility in the border zone of a human myocardial infarction.

Dr. Guccione's research is focused on optimizing the design of medical devices for treating heart failure, especially polymeric injection. Large animal models and computer simulations indicate that adding non-contractile material to the damaged left ventricular wall can potentially reduce myofiber stress. Recent results from a clinical trial support the novel concept that polymeric injection plus coronary artery bypass grafting leads to decreased myofiber stress, restored left ventricular geometry, and improved function.