Hello, I am
PATRICIA
YANG
A postdoctoral fellow in David Ku’s lab
in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech.
I study fluids inside animals — urine, feces, and blood.
​
I ask questions like: how can an elephant urinate as fast as a cat? How do wombats excrete cubes? Are there
faster ways to detect blood clots?
RESEARCH
INTERESTS​
-
Biofluids and medical devices
-
Rheology of biomaterials
-
Locomotion of aquatic animals
For Patricia, bodies are a series of tubes fine-tuned to pump the gory and the gross. She does the dirty work of handling feces-filled wombat intestines, gathering pig’s blood from slaughterhouses and designing makeshift elephant urethras – all for the sake of science. And she can’t get enough of it.
— CHELSEA WHYTE, NewScientist
DEC 18 2018
AB
OUT
​
Patricia Yang is a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she is developing a 30-min blood clot test. During her doctoral study in the same department, she investigated problems at the intersection of fluid mechanics and biology, in particular, excretion and digestion. Before graduate school, she received bachelor’s degrees in physics and engineering from National Taiwan University.
​
Yang was the recipient of the Sigma Xi Best Thesis award and the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics. Her work has been featured on CNN, the BBC, National Public Radio, National Geographic, and The Times. In addition to conducting research, she teaches fluid mechanics at all levels, from elementary school to college.
AW
ARDS
PUBLI
CATIONS
D. Berendes, P. Yang, A. Lai, D. Hu, J. Brown
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, C. Kaminski, D. Chu, D. Hu
P. Yang, J. Pham, J. Choo, D. Hu
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, V. Karvets, D. Chu, D. Hu
PRESEN
TATIONS
MEDICINE
MATERIAL SCIENCE
FLUID MECHANICS
BIOLOGY
INTERDISCIPLINARY
BIOLOGY
2019
Fluid and Health Conference
2018
APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting
2017
International Physics of Living Systems Network Meeting
10th Southeast Meeting on Soft Materials
2016
Southeast Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference
Digestive Disease Week
APS March Meeting
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference
2015
APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting
Gordon Research Seminar
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference
2014
APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting
International Physics of Living Systems Network Meeting
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference
2013
APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting
Southeast Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference
Annual Meeting of Ecological Society of America
RE
SEARCH
30–MIN
BLOOD CLOT
TEST
Abnormal blood occludes the blood vessel gradually and it may lead to a stroke or a heart attack.
​
To prevent the irreversible damage, I am developing a blood test that identifies patients at high risk. I plan to design the test as a point of care test: Nurses can perform the test close to the patient and receive the result in 30 minutes. The project is ongoing, so stay tuned!
publication
The project is ongoing,
so stay tuned!
The
global feces
problem
Human and animal feces pose threats to human health. We currently manage the human waste safely, but what about animal waste?
​
In our estimation, the total feces was 3.9 billion tons in 2014 and anticipated to 4.6 billion tons in 2030. We highlight the need of safe management of animal feces.
publication
D. Berendes, P. Yang, A. Lai, D. Hu, J. Brown
Hydrodynamics
of
defecation
Mammals with cylindrical feces defecate in 5 to 20 seconds. Do animals excrete with rectal pressure, or do the feces slide out effortlessly?
​
Mammals use rectal pressure, but mucus in the colon lubricates the defecation process. We also discuss extreme cases such as constipation and diarrhea.
​
Video credit: New Scientist
collaborators
Publication &
conference presentations
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, C. Kaminski, D. Chu, D. Hu
P. Yang, D. Dao, R. Lehner, D. Hu
​
P. Yang, D. Dao, R. Lehner, M. Tennenbaum,
A. Fernandez-Nieves, D. Hu
The law
of
urination
How do animals urinate? Is urine driven by bladder pressure or by gravity?
​
In the study, we discover that gravity drives urination for animals greater than 3 kg, thus the urination time stays consistent, between 10 to 30 seconds, across body sizes. Smaller animals urinate high speed droplets driven by bladder pressure.
​
Video credit: Animal Wire
collaborator
Publication & conference presentations
P. Yang, J. Pham, J. Choo, D. Hu
P. Yang, J. Pham, J. Choo, D. Hu
​
​
J. Pham, P. Yang, J. Choo, D. Hu
The Hydrodynamic of Urination:
​
FORMATION OF
CUBICAL FECES
FROM WOMBATS
Most animals produce cylindrical or pellet feces, but wombats produce cubes. How do wombats create cubes in the intestines?
​
Wombat intestines have varying stiffness. The material properties of the feces may also play a role in cube formation. Currently we are looking at the properties of the cubical feces.This research might lead to early screening techniques for colon cancer in humans based on the shape of feces. Please stay tuned!
​
Image credit: Incrediville
SEGMENTAL
CONTRACTION
OF THE
SMALL INTESTINE
Food transported in the intestines has varying compositions. Do the intestines respond to the variance of the composition?
​
As the gas composition increases, the frequency of intestinal contractions also increases, which may lead to GI abnormalities.
​
Photo credit: Arie van 't Riet
Publication and conference presentations
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, V. Karvets, D. Chu, D. Hu
The biomechanical influence of intestinal gas and chyme on small bowel peristalsis
Gastroenterology, 150:4, S904 (2016)
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, V. Kravets, D. Chu, D. Hu
​
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, V. Kravets, D. Hu
​
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, V. Kravets, D. Hu
​
P. Yang, M. LaMarca, V. Kravets, D. Hu
​
P. Yang, H. Zhou, M. Davies, D. Hu
GRS, 2015
MORPHOLOGY OF JELLYFISH PROPULSION
Rowing jellyfish swim through ever-changing ocean currents. How do they respond to the flows around them?
​
We discover that rowing jellyfish contract to offset their sinking, but otherwise ignore any feedback from the background flow.
Publication and conference presentation
P. Yang, M. Lemons, D. Hu
P. Yang, M. Lemons, D. Hu
Southeast SICB, 2016
FLIGHT INITIATION OF FLYING FISH
Flying fish swim underwater and glide in air, but how do they transfer from swimming to gliding? How do they penetrate the air-water surface?
​
In this work, we film juvenile flying fish at high speed. Within 0.05 seconds, flying fish accelerate at 5 times earth’s gravity and glide at 1.3 m/s, 10 times faster than their swimming speed. The submerged part of their body experiences less drag while gliding than it would during swimming.
​
Video credit: BBC Earth
collaborators
TEA
CHING
11 of my mentees from various disciplines received the
Georgia Tech’s Presidential Undergraduate Research Award
Students filming
at the zoo
Bernoulli equation with the urinary system replica
Surface tension with the Suminagashi kits
Stagnation point with one-breath windbag
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MILES CHEN
AARON HUI
ALICE ZHANG
CATHERINE GREY
SHIYAN ZAN
ZACHARY BUTNER
JING YU
JISHEN CHENG
ANTHONY CHEN
RICHARD LEHNER
XE XU
SULISAY PHONEKEO
COMPUTER
SCIENCE
MATTHEW LEMONS
BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING
CANDICE KAMINISKI
VICTORIA KRAVETS
ZHOU HE
DUC DAO
JONATHAN PHAM
JEROME CHOO
BIOLOGY
MORGAN LAMARCA
ERIC YI
INDUSTRIAL
SYSTEM AND
ENGINEERING
NICOLE KAWAHATA
SARAH BASTA
CHEMICAL AND
BIOMOLECULAR
ENGINEERING
JOSEPH HAINES