A biomedical engineering student is headed to France this summer. Lindsey Davis, a Ph.D. student from Warrenton, Virginia, earned a grant from The Whitaker International Program to study at a French university for two months.

The Whitaker International Program sends U.S. biomedical engineering students overseas to undertake a self-designed project that will enhance their careers within the field. The goal of the program is to assist the development of professional leaders who are not only superb scientists, but who also will advance the profession through an international outlook.

Davis, along with USC faculty mentor Susan Lessner, are researching the biomechanics of atherosclerotic plaque failure. Davis has experimentally collected data on the mechanical strength of atherosclerotic plaques at USC. She will use this experimental data to develop computational simulations of plaque failure this summer while in France.

The grant will pay for her travel and living expenses while she studies at École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne - France's oldest engineering school outside Paris.

"The researchers at this university are some of the best in their field. It is really exciting to get an opportunity to learn from them," said Lindsey.

8 May 14