Richard Skalak 1989 Recipient of the Jean-Leonard-Marie Poiseuille Award Outstanding and Creative Work in Biomechanics and Modeling of Cells in Capillaries

Richard Skalak, was awarded the Poiseuille Medal during the 7th International Congress of Biorheology in 1989. R. Skalak had an outstanding ability to combine quantitative engineering analysis with state-of-the-art biomedical experimentation. He made seminal contributions to the understanding of wave propagation in the pulmonary circulation and mechanotransduction in Pacinian corpuscles. He conducted a series of imaginative and elegant research studies on blood rheology, including the rheological properties of red blood cells and cell membrane, viscoelasticity of white blood cells in the passive and active states, microrheological and molecular bases of cell aggregation and adhesion, the dynamics of flow and interactions of blood cells in capillaries and microvascular network, and blood rheology in the circulation. These interdisciplinary studies established the biorheological principles of fundamental biomedical problems and have important implications in a number of clinical conditions, including inflammation, blood diseases, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. R. Skalak also made prominent contributions in several other fields related to biorheology, including the biomechanics of craniofacial growth, lung parenchyma, skin replacement, osseointegration and titanium implants. He played a major role in fostering tissue engineering as a new frontier of biomedical engineering. R. Skalak was a great leader and pioneer in biorheology.