Profile
Luka Pocivavsek
Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery
Luka Pocivavsek is a vascular surgeon. As an MD/PhD student at the University of Chicago, he focused his investigations on understanding the behavior of lung surfactant, a microscopically thin biological membrane that facilitates breathing. The Division of Biological Physics of the American Physical Society recognized his doctoral thesis in chemistry, “Mechanical and Thermodynamic Focusing at Membrane Interfaces,” for outstanding work on the collapse mechanisms of thin films, especially lung surfactants.
His research has been published in Annals of Vascular Surgery, Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, Journal of Vascular Surgery, Biomaterials, and Biointerphases. He is the co-founder of Aruga Technologies, a biotechnology company that utilizes reversible surface topographic actuation to drive renewal at the fluid/surface interface.
Following the receipt of his medical degree and doctorate from the University of Chicago, Pocivavsek completed a surgical residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Chicago Medicine.