RESEARCH OVERVIEW TEAM PUBLICATIONS PRESS TEACHING COMMERCIALIZATION CONTACT

Rapidly translating life saving vascular research

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Welcome to the McMaster Vascular AI Lab, led by Associate Professor Baraa Al-Khazraji.

OVERVIEW

Our lab investigates the biophysics of the cerebral and peripheral vasculature and its adaptation in health, exercise, disease and spaceflight. We leverage cerebrovascular and cardiovascular hemodynamics, biophysics, image processing, mathematical modeling, AI and multimodality imaging to address important research challenges in vascular health.

The lab maintains a multidisciplinary research environment in which we collaborate with clinicians, engineers, statisticians, neuroscientists, and population health scientists. Our projects range from investigating micro- and macro-vascular network function in peripheral and cerebral vascular beds to developing innovative tools for translating research findings into real-world clinical applications.

McMaster University
Mitacs
NSERC
Innovation Factory
CFI

TEAM

DR. BARAA AL-KHAZRAJI

Director, Assistant Professor

MICHELLE MEI

PhD Candidate NSERC Doctoral Scholarship

ELRIC ALLISON

PhD Candidate NSERC Doctoral Scholarship

TAHA ABBASI-HASHEMI

PhD Student

VANESSA MIZZI

Master's Student Ontario Graduate Scholarship

MATIN BORHANI

Master's Student Ontario Graduate Scholarship

EMILY LEDGERWOOD

Master's Student MIRA Graduate Scholarship

ANOJAN SUTHAHARAN

Master's Student

BAHAR ALASTI

Undergraduate thesis student

SHARAN BANWAIT

Undergraduate thesis student

LILY BAUMAN

Undergraduate thesis student

KARINA BHARGAVA

Undergraduate thesis student

ALESSIA FILIPAZZO

Undergraduate thesis student

SIMRAN GILL

Undergraduate thesis student

CARRIE HUANG

Undergraduate thesis student

ALYSSIA NARAN

Undergraduate thesis student

SHAZMEEN SHAKEEL

Undergraduate thesis student

MAKYE WILKINSON

Undergraduate thesis student

ARSHMAN CHAWLA

Undergraduate practicum student

MARIYAH GOLAWALA

Undergraduate practicum student

SIMONE KOBAYATI

Undergraduate practicum student

MADELINE MOSHER

Undergraduate practicum student

SAFA NULLA

Undergraduate practicum student

DIYA PATEL

Undergraduate practicum student

ZOE PIERORAZIO

Undergraduate practicum student

YOUSEF SOLIMAN

Undergraduate practicum student

TIMON AU

Volunteer

CAITLYN HORTON

Volunteer

MASON KADEM

Head of AI

WE ARE HIRING

Please read the following information if you are interested in joining our team.

MORE INFO

ALUMNI

DR. GEOFF COOMBS

Postdoctoral Fellow

HUSEYN ISMAYILOV

Master's student

ABIGAIL BERUBE

Undergraduate thesis student

JULIANO ABREU

Undergraduate thesis student

FARZAD BOLOORI

Undergraduate thesis student

NIMASHA DE SILVA

Undergraduate practicuum and thesis student

KATE DUNSMORE

Undergraduate thesis student

HOPE HARNACK

Undergraduate thesis student

MALAK AIAD

Undergraduate thesis student

AYA MOHAMED

Undergraduate thesis student

NOOR NATHEIR

Undergraduate thesis student

TALIA NG

Undergraduate practicuum and thesis student

JULIA PATELLI

Undergraduate thesis student

DRAZEN RAKOVAC

Undergraduate thesis student

NEHA SAROYA

Undergraduate thesis student

MOHANAD ABUZEINAH

Undergraduate practicuum student

MEIRAH ALKUHALI

Undergraduate practicum student

ZEYAD ELIAS

Undergraduate practicum student

TONY JIAO

Undergraduate practicum student

DIANE (DAEUN) KIM

NSERC USRA

ARIANA LADHA

Undergraduate practicum student

ADAYAN SALO

Undergraduate practicuum student

PUBLICATIONS

2025
Impact of successive sets of high-intensity leg press on cerebral hemodynamics across menstrual cycle phases
Allison EY, Borhani M, D'Souza AC, Ismayilov HA, Wilson B, Mei Y, Brassard P, Phillips SM, Al-Khazraji BK
Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2025 Apr 1;328(4):R447-R459
View Paper
2024
Association of arterial stiffness index and brain structure in the UK Biobank: a 10-year retrospective analysis
Allison EY, Al-Khazraji BK
Aging and Disease 15 (4), 1872
View Paper
2024
Effects of single-and bilateral limb immersion on systemic and cerebral hemodynamic responses to the cold pressor test
Allison EY, Mei Y, Coombs GB, Mizzi V, Ismayilov H, Al-Khazraji BK
Journal of Applied Physiology 137 (4), 873-882
View Paper
2023
Impact of ischemic heart disease and cardiac rehabilitation on cerebrovascular compliance
Coombs GB, Al-Khazraji BK, Suskin N, Shoemaker JK
Journal of Applied Physiology 135 (4), 753-762
View Paper
2022
What are the effects of acute exercise and exercise training on cerebrovascular hemodynamics following stroke? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Moncion K, Allison EY, Al-Khazraji BK, MacDonald MJ, Roig M, Tang A
Journal of Applied Physiology 132 (6), 1379-1393
View Paper
2022
Hemodynamic modeling, medical imaging, and machine learning and their applications to cardiovascular interventions
Kadem M, Garber L, Abdelkhalek M, Al-Khazraji BK, et al.
IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering 16, 403-423
View Paper
2021
Protocol-dependence of middle cerebral artery dilation to modest hypercapnia
Al-Khazraji BK, Buch S, Kadem M, Matushewski BJ, Norozi K, Menon RS, et al.
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 46 (9), 1038-1046
View Paper

TEACHING

GRADUATE

KINESIOL 731 Supervised Machine Learning for the Physiologist

UNDERGRADUATE

KINESIOL 3W03 Cardiovascular Physiology of Exercise

KINESIOL 4B03 Cardiovascular Disease: Pathophysiology and Rehabilitation

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CONTACT US

McMaster Vascular AI Lab

Ivor Wynne Centre (East wing)
McMaster University
Hamilton, ON, Canada

For inquiries, collaborations, or more information, please email us:

[email protected]