Sunčica Čanić is a

Croatian-American Croatian Americans or Croat Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Croatian ancestry. In 2012, there were 414,714 American citizens of Croat or Croatian descent living in the United States as per revised 2010 United States Census ...

mathematician, the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Center for Mathematical Biosciences at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, and Professor of Mathematics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. She is known for her work in mathematically modeling the human

cardiovascular system In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

and medical devices for it.

Education and career

Čanić earned bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics in 1984 and 1986 from the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

. She completed her Ph.D. in 1992 in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

from

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

, under the joint supervision of Bradley J. Plohr and

James Glimm James Gilbert Glimm (born March 24, 1934) is an American mathematician, former president of the American Mathematical Society, and distinguished professor at Stony Brook University. He has made many contributions in the areas of pure and applied ...

. She became an assistant professor at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

in 1992, and moved to the University of Houston in 1998. She became the Cullen Distinguished Professor in 2008, and Professor of Mathematics at U.C. Berkeley in 2018. She has most recently taught the undergraduate multivariable and vector calculus course at UC Berkeley. She is also a member of the board of governors of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications.

Contributions

Čanić's research has involved the computational simulation of the

stent In medicine, a stent is a tube usually constructed of a metallic alloy or a polymer. It is inserted into the Lumen (anatomy), lumen (hollow space) of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open. Stenting refers to the placement of ...

s used to treat arterial clogging. By finding ways of simplifying computer models of stents from hundreds of thousands of nodes to only 400 nodes, she was able to make these simulations much more efficient, and used them to design improved stents that reduce clotting and scar formation. She has also led the development of a procedure for heart valve replacement surgery that is less traumatic than open-heart surgery..

Recognition

In 2014 she was elected as a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) is a professional society dedicated to applied mathematics, computational science, and data science through research, publications, and community. SIAM is the world's largest scientific soci ...

"for contributions to the modeling and analysis of

partial differential equation In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to ho ...

s motivated by applications in the life sciences." She was elected as a Fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

in the 2020 Class, for "contributions to partial differential equations, and for mathematical modeling of fluid-structure interactions that has influenced the design of medical devices". She was honored as the 2024

AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecturer The AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture is an award and lecture series that "highlights significant contributions of women to applied or computational mathematics." The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and the Society for Industrial and Appl ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Canic, Suncica Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Croatian mathematicians Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb alumni Stony Brook University alumni Iowa State University faculty University of Houston faculty Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians