Linxia Gu, an associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, holds a stent catheter, which is used to insert stents in arteries and other blood vessels. With funding from a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Gu is studying the changes that cells and tissue undergo when a stent is introduced. Ultimately, this research could help reduce the incidence of in-stent restenosis, a debilitating and sometimes fatal complication after stents are inserted to open clogged blood vessels. Gu's doctoral student, Shijia Zhao, is in the background.

Credit: Copyright 2013 University of Nebraska Board of Regents; photo credit: Craig Chandler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln