Maria Ferriz is a PhD student at the University of Toronto working at the intersection of biomedical engineering and clinical medicine at Toronto General Hospital (UHN). She holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Vienna University of Technology.

 

Her interest in cardiovascular modelling developed during her master’s thesis at the Medical University of Vienna, where she used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to model the interaction between intraventricular blood flow and left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Her doctoral research is in cardiovascular engineering, with a current focus on ex vivo heart perfusion (EVHP) and heart transplantation. She is developing AI-enabled, patient-specific digital twins of the cardiovascular system that integrate physiological data collected during EVHP to predict donor-heart function and identify early signs of deterioration. Her work also explores predictive closed-loop control strategies to guide perfusion conditions and clinical interventions in real time. By combining computational modelling, machine learning, and clinical expertise, Maria aims to improve donor-heart assessment, increase donor-heart utilization, and support better transplant outcomes.