Lapsansky to discuss the wonders of blood circulation and the heart April 24

Janice Lapsansky, a senior instructor in the Biology Department at Western Washington University, will provide a sneak peek Tuesday of how she teaches her GUR students about the anatomy of the heart and blood flow dynamics in mammals and how she brings the real world into her classes through her research as an emergency medical professional.

The event will take place from 3 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, in Bond Hall Room 111 on campus.

In her presentation, Lapsansky will consider the metabolic needs of individual cells that make up the human body. Every member of this ordered population requires nutrient and waste exchange proportional to its individual rate of activity, but only a fraction of cells communicate directly with the external environment to do this. Internal transport is especially challenging for animals with large bodies and an active lifestyle.

How is the internal environment “homogenized” in order to support trillions of cells in an animal body? How can finite resources be distributed differentially as local metabolic needs change? Lapsansky will answer these questions as she covers the successful mechanisms of circulation that are based on principles of pump action and fluid dynamics.

These Faculty GUR mini-courses are intended to, among other things, promote a culture of learning at Western; enhance the general education of faculty, staff and students; and encourage interdisciplinary thinking and research at the university.