03/29/2022
By Christopher Hansen

The Mechanical Engineering Department welcomes Basak Ozaslan from Harvard University as part of the department's research seminar series on Friday, April 1, 2022 at 1 p.m. 

This seminar will be held in Dandeneau 220. Please contact Prof. Chris Hansen for additional details.

Seminar Title: Tailoring an Automated Insulin Delivery Algorithm for use during Pregnancy in Women with Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract: Insulin is an essential hormone in regulating blood glucose levels in health. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high glucose levels due to the lack of internal insulin production. Therefore, individuals with type 1 diabetes depend on lifelong external insulin injections, which can be automated using advanced devices and decision-making software. For pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, special clinical requirements and changing metabolism throughout pregnancy make the design of automated insulin delivery systems particularly challenging. In this talk, I will describe how to bring engineering methods such as control theory, mathematical optimization, and data-driven verification to design a pregnancy-specific glucose controller. I will explain how to use in-silico simulations to tailor the parameters of an existing controller to ensure desirable performance over a broad range of clinically possible scenarios. Next, I will share results from testing the proposed controller on real patients in a clinical trial. I will conclude the presentation with discussions of the results and delineate possible directions for future work.

Speaker Biography: Dr. Basak Ozaslan is a postdoctoral researcher in John A. Paulson School of Engineering at Harvard University. Her current research focuses on understanding and improving glucose control in women with type 1 diabetes during pregnancy. She received her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2019 following her Master’s degree in the same department. During her graduate studies, she focused on improving glucose control in relation to physical activity in individuals with type 1 diabetes. She is a co-inventor on two patents related to advisory systems for insulin dosing informed by (i) psychological stress and (ii) antecedent physical activity in individuals with type 1 diabetes, both of which were acquired by Dexcom, Inc. Her broader research interest is to employ data science and engineering methodologies for developing person-centered solutions that improve individual health and management of chronic diseases.