Kenneth R Lutchen, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Engineering
Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Respiratory and Physiological Systems Identification Laboratory

M.S., Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
B.S., Engineering Science, University of Virginia

Curriculum Vitae

Phone: (617) 353-2800; Fax: (617) 353-5929
Email: klutch@bu.edu

Biography and Research Interests

Dr. Kenneth R. Lutchen, is Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University.  He received his B.S. in Engineering Science from the University of Virginia, in 1977 and the M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1980 and 1983, respectively.

Dr. Lutchen is former Vice President of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).  He was also Secretary/Treasurer of AIMBE and Chair of the Academic Council. He has served on the board of directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and is one of that society’s inaugural fellows.  From 2001-2002 he was the President of the Council of Chairs in (Undergraduate) Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering.  Dr. Lutchen also has served on scientific advisory board, review panels and study sections for the Whitaker Foundation, National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health and for several bioengineering departments and colleges of engineering nationwide.

Dr. Lutchen has been a faculty member of Boston University since 1984.  He was Chair of Biomedical Engineering from 1998-2006.  During that time Dr. Lutchen was the chief leader among several major initiatives. He was the Principal Investigator of the department’s $14 million dollar Leadership Award from the Whitaker Foundation, one of only three programs to have this distinction. In 2005, the department was one of only 9 institutions to receive a potential $15 million Translational Research Partnership Award from the Coulter Foundation.  Boston University is the only institution in the nation to have received both awards. He conceived and attracted an NIH Ph.D. Training Grant in Quantitative Biology and Physiology now entering its 9^th year.  During his Chairmanship in BME, the faculty size grew from 22 to 32, extramural funding increased from $8 million to over $24 million per year, and the graduate program nearly doubled in size. The Department’s ranking in US News and World Report improved from 18^th to 6^th. In 2006, Dr. Lutchen was named Dean of the College of Engineering at Boston University.

As Dean, Dr. Lutchen has orchestrated the creation of a new Division of Materials Science and Engineering, a new Division of Systems Engineering within the College of Engineering, and a new cross-college Clean Energy and Environmental Sustainability Initiative. He has also created new Concentration programs in Energy and Environmental Engineering and Nanotechnology. Dean Lutchen currently serves as Chair of the Planning Committee for the Engineering Dean’s Institute.

Dr. Lutchen has published over 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and has advanced novel experimental, imaging, and computational based methods for intracellular through whole-organ structure-function relations governing lung disease. His current research, funded by the NIH is focused on bridging the biophysical mechanism governing smooth muscle contraction to the multi-tissue-scale and dynamic mechanisms governing whole airway constriction.

Dr. Lutchen has been the recipient of the College of Engineering’s Professor of the Year Award and the Biomedical Engineering Professor of the Year Award — twice, all via election by students.

Recent Publications

Ma, B. and K.R. Lutchen. “CFD Simulation of Aerosol Deposition in an Anatomically Based Human Large-Medium Airway Model” Annals of Biomedical Engineering. 37: 271-285 (2009)

Mullally, W. M. Betke, M. Albert, and K.R. Lutchen. “Explaining Clustered Ventilation Defects via a Minimal Number of Airway Closure Locations” Annls of Biomedical Engineering. 37: 286-300 (2009)

Tzeng, Y-S, J, Gereige, J. Mansour, N. Shah, X. Zhou, G. Washko, E. Stepp, M. Cho, J. B. Szender, S. Z. Sani, E. Israel, K. Lutchen, M. Albert. “The difference in ventilation distribution and ventilation heterogeneity between asthmatic and healthy subjects quantified from hyperpolarized 3He MRI” J. Appl. Physiol. 106:813-822 (2009)

LaPrad, A.S., West, A.R., Noble, P.B., Lutchen, K.R., and Mitchell, H.W. “Maintenance of airway caliber in-vitro by deep inspiration and tidal strains” J. Appl. Physiol. 195:479-485 (2008)

LaPrad, A. and K.R. Lutchen. “Respiratory impedance measurements for assessment of lung mechanics: focus on asthma” Review Article. Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology. 163: 64-73 (2008)

Tzeng, Yang-Sheng , E. Hoffman, J. Cook-Granroth, J. Gereige, J. Mansour, G. Washko, M. Cho, E. Stepp, K.R. Lutchen, M. Albert. “Investigation of hyperpolarized 3he mri utility in examining human airway diameter behavior in asthma through comparison with high-resolution computed tomography” Academic Radiology. 15: 7990808 (2008)

Bellardine, C.L., A.M. Hoffman, L. Tsai, E.P. Ingenito, D.W. Kaczka, B.A. Simon, B. Suki, and K.R. Lutchen. “Impact of mechanical ventilation during heterogeneous lung injury: Insights from CT-based image functional modeling” Annls. Biomed. Eng. 36 (6), 980-991 (2008)

Tgavalekos, Nora T., G. Musch, R. S. Harris, M. F. Vidal Melo, T. Winkler, T. Schroeder, R. Callahan, K. R. Lutchen and J. G. Venegas. “Relationship between airway narrowing, patchy ventilation and lung mechanics in asthmatics” Europ. Resp. Journal. 29: 1174-1181 (2007)

Henderson, A.C., E.P. Ingenito, M. l. Moy, J.J. Reilly, E.S. Salcedo, Bela Suki and K.R. Lutchen. “Dynamic lung mechanics in late-stage emphysema before and after lung volume reduction surgery” Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology. 155(3), 234-242 (2007)

Bellardine, C.L., A.M. Hoffman, L. Tsai, E.P. Ingenito, D.W. Kaczka, B.A. Simon, B. Suki, and K.R. Lutchen, “Relationship between dynamic respiratory mechanics and disease heterogeneity in sheep lavage injury” Critical Care Medicine. 35:2007.

Affonce, D.A and K.R. Lutchen. “New perspectives on the mechanical basis for airway hyperreactivity and hypersensitivity in asthma” J. Appl. Physiol. 101: 1710-1719 (2006)