Karla P. Mercado-Shekhar, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biological Sciences and Engineering

Co-coordinator, Center for Biomedical Engineering

Coordinator, Certification in Scientific Writing

Education

Awards and Honors

  • Excellence in Research Fellowship, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, 2019-2022.

  • Postdoctoral Research Grant, National Institutes of Health, U.S.A., 2016-2018.

  • Provost’s Doctoral Fellowship, University of Rochester, New York, U.S.A., 2009-2014.

  • Best Paper Awards in Biomedical Acoustics, 2nd place (2014) and 3rd place (2012), Acoustical Society of America.

Publications

* Publications from IIT Gandhinagar can be found here.

* Publications during Ph.D. and Post-doctoral Fellowship:

1. R. Kleven, K. Karani, N. Hilvert, S. Ford, K.P. Mercado-Shekhar, J. Racadio, T. Abruzzo, and C.K. Holland, 2021. Accelerated Sonothrombolysis with Definity in a Xenographic Porcine Cerebral Thromboembolism Model. Scientific Reports, 11, 3987.

2. K.P. Mercado-Shekhar, H. Su, D.S. Kalaikadal, J.N. Lorenz, R.M. Manglik, C.K. Holland, A.N. Redington, and K.J. Haworth, 2019. Acoustic droplet vaporization-mediated scavenging of dissolved oxygen in physiological and blood-mimicking fluids. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 56, 114-124.

3. K. Nguyen, H. Pan, K. Haworth, E. Mahoney, K.P. Mercado-Shekhar, C. Lin, Z. Zhang, and Y. Park, 2019. Multiple exposure drug release from stable nanodroplets by high-intensity focused ultrasound for a potential degenerative disc disease treatment. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 45, 160-169. 

4. K.P. Mercado-Shekhar, R. Kleven, H. Aponte Rivera, R. Lewis, K.B. Karani, H.J. Vos, T. Abruzzo, K.J. Haworth, and C.K. Holland, 2018. Effect of clot stiffness on recombinant tissue plasminogen activator lytic susceptibility in vitro. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 44, 2710-2727. 

5. S. Abadi, K.J. Haworth, K.P. Mercado-Shekhar, and D. Dowling, 2018. Frequency-sum beamforming for passive cavitation imaging. The Journal Acoustical Society of America. 144, 198-209.

6. K.P. Mercado, K. Radhakrishnan, K. Stewart, L. Snider, D. Ryan, and K.J. Haworth, 2016. Size-isolation of ultrasound-mediated phase transition perfluorocarbon droplets using differential centrifugation. The Journal Acoustical Society of America. 139, EL142-EL148.

7. D. Dalecki, K.P. Mercado, and D.C. Hocking, 2016. Quantitative ultrasound for nondestructive characterization of engineered tissues and biomaterials. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 44(3), 636-648.

8. K.P. Mercado, J. Langdon, S.A. McAleavey, D.C. Hocking, and D. Dalecki, 2015. Scholte wave generation during Single Tracking Location Shear Wave Elasticity Imaging of three-dimensional engineered tissues. The Journal Acoustical Society of America. 138, EL138-EL144.

9. K.P. Mercado, M. Helguera, D.C. Hocking, and D. Dalecki, 2015. Noninvasive quantitative imaging of collagen microstructure in three-dimensional hydrogels using high frequency quantitative ultrasound. Tissue Engineering Part C, Methods. 21, 671-682.

10. K.P. Mercado, M. Helguera, D.C. Hocking, and D. Dalecki, 2014. Estimating cell concentration in three-dimensional engineered tissues using high frequency quantitative ultrasound. Annals of Biomedical Engineering. 42, 1292-1304.

Our work has also been published in 2 proceedings and 20 abstract presentations in conferences such as the Meetings of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), International Tissue Elasticity Conference (ITEC), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting, American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) Convention, European Symposium on Ultrasound Contrast Imaging, International Symposium of the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU), and the International Conference on Formulations in Food and Healthcare (ICFFH).

 

Patent

Kevin J. Haworth, Christy K. Holland, Karla Mercado-Shekhar, Andrew Redington, Bryan Goldstein, “Intravascular Ultrasound Device and Methods for Avoiding or Treating Reperfusion Injury,” Priority Numbers: United States Patent 11,950,792, issued 9 April 2024.

Teaching

  • BE 614 Biostatistics (Instructor): 2019-20 Sem I, 2020-21 Sem II, 2021-22 Sem I

  • BE 304 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering (Instructor): 2019-20 Sem II, 2020-21 Sem I

  • BE 101 Introduction to Life Sciences (Tutor): 2019-20 Sem I
  • HS 191 Writing (Tutor): 2020-21 Term I
  • HS 192 Writing (Tutor): 2020-21 Term II

Service roles

  • Co-Coordinator, Centre for Biomedical Engineering, IIT Gandhinagar, Sept. 2019 to present

  • Coordinator, Certification in Scientific Writing, IIT Gandhinagar, Sept. 2019 to present

  • Member, Advisory Editorial Board, Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, Jan. 2021 to present

  • Affiliated Member, Institutional Ethics Committee, IIT Gandhinagar, Jan. 2021 to present

  • Member, Technical Program Committee, IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, 2022 to 2025

  • Member, Biomedical Acoustics Technical Committee & Education in Acoustics Committee, Acoustical Society of America, 2023 to 2025