Transport of Fluid and Solutes in the Lung Microcirculation

Thomas R. Harris, M.D., Ph.D.

Brief Biographical Summary:

Thomas R. Harris is the Orrin Henry Ingram Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Medicine at Vanderbilt University.  He is currently Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and the Ph.D. degree from Tulane University in that field. He holds an M.D. degree from Vanderbilt University.  He has been  an active investigator in the problems of the lung circulation with an emphasis on transport phenomena, quantitative physiology, mathematical modeling and instrumentation and has published over 230 papers, chapters, proceedings and abstracts in these fields.  His current interests focus on the development of learning science and learning technology for bioengineering.  He is currently the director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center in Bioengineering Educational Technologies.  This is a large, multi-university effort involving Vanderbilt, Northwestern, University of Texas and the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program that is aimed at developing a new system for bioengineering education.  Honors include selection as the Whitaker Lecturer and Research Award winner for the Biomedical Engineering Society in 1991, the Theo C. Pilkington Outstanding Educator Award of the American Society for Engineering Education in 2003, Affirmative Action Award at Vanderbilt University in 1992, Orrin Henry Ingram Distinguished Professor of Engineering Chair, and the Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professor Award for 2002-2003 from Vanderbilt.  He is a past president of the Biomedical Engineering Society and  of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering..  He has led in the organization of both the undergraduate and graduate degree programs in biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt.

Current Projects Include:

1.    Application of learning science to instruction in bioengineering.

2.    Incorporation of learning technology into instructional design for bioengineering.

Recent Publications

Seale, K. T., Harris, T. R.  A three-compartment model of osmotic water exchange in the lung microvasculature.  Annals of Biomedical Engineering 28:1019-1027, 2000. 

Seale, K. T., Pou, N. A., Krivitski, N., Harris, T. R.  Quantification of lung vascular injury with ultrasound.  Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 30: 671-682, 2002.  

Harris, T. R., Bransford, J. D., Brophy, S. P.  Roles for learning sciences and learning technologies in biomedical engineering education: A review of recent advances.  Annual Reviews:  Biomedical Engineering, 4: 29-48 , 2002.

Harris, TR. Recent Advances and Directions in Biomedical Engineering Education. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine 22: 30-31, 2003. 

Isaacs KK, Evans MV, Harris TR Visualization-based analysis for a mixed-inhibition binary PBPK model: determination of inhibition mechanism. J. Pharmacokinet Pharmacodyn. Jun;31(3):215-42, 2004. 

Harris, TR and Brophy, SP Challenge-based instruction in biomedical engineering: A scalable method to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching and learning in biomedical engineering. Medical Engineering and Physics 27: 617-624, 2005.