CV
Academic Positions
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile - present
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering
Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering
Education
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering.
Successfully funded by the School of Engineering internal fellowship and FONDECYT Postdoctorado for 3 years.
Stanford University - December 2018
Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering, Living Matter Laboratory.
Grade Point Average: 4.0
Teaching Assistant: “Non-linear Finite Elements”, “Continuum Mechanics” and “Neuromechanics”.
Thesis name: “Multi-scale model of cardiac arrhythmias”
University of California, San Francisco March - April 2011
Visiting Scholar: Research in finite element analysis of the vertebral endplate.
Washington State University January - February 2011
Visiting Scholar: Characterization of a dielectric micro droplet thermal interface material.
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Master of Engineering Science - 2011
Graduated summa cum laude. Ranked top 9%.
Thesis name: “Structural parameters determining the strength of the porcine vertebral body affected by tumors”.
Mechanical Engineering - 2011
Graduated summa cum laude. Ranked top 8%.
Teaching assistant of the courses “Engineering Materials”, “Mechanical Behavior of Materials” and “Modern Methods of Manufacturing”.
Educational Experience
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Mechanical Engineering. - 2014
Instructor: Teaching “Solid Mechanics” and “Product Design Workshop".
Other tasks included: Assistance for grant applications, finite element analysis consultancy and research in medical images segmentation.
Universidad de los Andes March - July 2012
Instructor: teaching “Statics”.
Professional Experience
Wenco S.A. - 2014
R&D Engineer: Developing packaging plastic products for the Chilean market.
Publications
etaremune
V. Tac, M.K. Rausch, F. Sahli, A.B. Tepole. Data-driven anisotropic finite viscoelasticity using neural ordinary differential equations. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 411 (2023): 116046.
V. Tac, F. Sahli, A.B. Tepole. Data-driven tissue mechanics with polyconvex neural ordinary differential equations. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 398 (2022): 115248.
C. Ruiz Herrera, T. Grandits, G. Plank, P. Perdikaris, F. Sahli, S. Pezzuto. Physics-informed neural networks to learn cardiac fiber orientation from multiple electroanatomical maps. Engineering with Computers (2022): 1-17.
S. Pezzuto, P. Perdikaris, F. Sahli. Learning cardiac activation maps from 12-lead ECG with multi-fidelity Bayesian optimization on manifolds. IFAC-PapersOnLine (2022), 55, 20, 175-180.
O. Tikenoğulları, F. Sahli, J. Yao, A. Marsden, E. Kuhl. How viscous is the beating heart? Insights from a computational study. Computational Mechanics (2022): 1-15.
M. Peirlinck, J. Yao, F. Sahli, E. Kuhl. How drugs modulate the performance of the human heart. Computational Mechanics (2022): doi:10.1007/s00466-022-02146-1
L. Gander, S. Pezzuto, A. Gharaviri, R. Krause, P. Perdikaris, F. Sahli. Fast characterization of inducible regions of atrial fibrillation models with multi-fidelity Gaussian process classification.Frontiers in Physiology (2022): doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.757159
M. Peirlinck, F. Sahli, E. Kuhl. Sex differences in drug-induced arrhythmogenesis. Frontiers in Physiology (2021): doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.708435
M.A. Bhouri, F. Sahli, H. Wang, K. Linka, M. Peirlinck, E. Kuhl, P. Perdikaris. COVID-19 dynamics across the US: A deep learning study of human mobility and social behavior. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, no. 382 (2021): 113891.
M. Peirlinck, F. Sahli, J. Yao, J. M. Guccione, S. Tripathy, Y. Wang, D. Ozturk, P. Segars, T.M. Morrison, S. Levine, E. Kuhl . Precision medicine in human heart modeling. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology (2021): 1-29.
M. Peirlinck, K. Linka, F. Sahli, E. Bendavid, J. Bhattacharya, J. Ioannidis, E. Kuhl. Visualizing the invisible: The effect of asymptomatic transmission on the outbreak dynamics of COVID-19. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. 372 (2020): 113410.
K. Linka, M. Peirlinck, F. Sahli, E. Kuhl. Outbreak dynamics of COVID-19 in Europe and the effect of travel restrictions. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering. 2020 May 4:1-8.
M. Peirlinck, K. Linka, F. Sahli, E. Kuhl. Outbreak dynamics of COVID-19 in China and the United States. Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology (2020) Apr 27:1.
F. Sahli, Y. Yang, P. Perdikaris, DE. Hurtado, E. Kuhl. Physics-informed neural networks for cardiac activation mapping. Frontiers in Physics 8 (2020): 42.
F. Sahli, K. Seo, E. Ashley, E. Kuhl. Classifying drugs by their arrhythmogenic risk using machine learning. Biophysical Journal (2020).
F. Sahli, P. Perdikaris, E. Kuhl, DE. Hurtado. Multi-fidelity classification using Gaussian processes: accelerating the prediction of large-scale computational models. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, no. 357 (2019) 112602.
M. Peirlinck, F, Sahli, KL. Sack, JS. Choy, GS. Kassab, JM. Guccione, M. De Beule, P. Segers, E. Kuhl. Using machine learning to characterize heart failure across the scales. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology. 2019; doi:10.1007/s10237-019-01190-w.
F. Sahli, JS. Choy, KL. Sack, JM. Guccione, G. Kassab, E. Kuhl. Multiscale characterization of heart failure. Acta Biomaterialia, no. 86 (2019): 66-76
F. Sahli, K. Matsuno, J. Yao, P. Perdikaris, E. Kuhl. Machine learning in drug development: Characterizing the effect of 30 drugs on the QT interval using Gaussian process regression, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, no. 348 (2019): 313-333
F. Sahli, A. Sher, J. Yao, E. Kuhl. Predicting critical drug concentrations and torsadogenic risk using a multiscale exposure-response simulator. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology (2019); doi:10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.10.003
F. Sahli, J. Yao, E. Kuhl. Predicting drug-induced arrhythmias by multiscale modeling. International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering 34, no. 5 (2018): e2964.
F. Sahli, J. Yao, E. Kuhl. Predicting the cardiac toxicity of drugs using a novel multiscale exposure–response simulator. Computer methods in biomechanics and biomedical engineering 21, no. 3 (2018): 232-246.
F. Sahli, JAB. Zaman, E. Kuhl, SM. Narayan. Interpreting activation mapping of atrial fibrillation: A hybrid computational/physiological study. Annals of biomedical engineering 46, no. 2 (2018): 257-269.
F. Sahli, FA. Concha, DE. Hurtado, E. Kuhl. The importance of mechano-electrical feedback and inertia in cardiac electromechanics. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, no. 320 (2017): 352-368.
F. Sahli, DE. Hurtado, E. Kuhl. Generating Purkinje networks in the human heart. Journal of Biomechanics no. 49 (2016): 2455-2465.
F. Sahli, J. Cuellar, A. Perez, AJ. Fields, M. Campos, J. Ramos-Grez. Structural parameters determining the strength of the porcine vertebral body affected by tumors. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering 18, no 8 (2015): 890-899.
AJ. Fields, F. Sahli, AG. Rodriguez, and JC. Lotz. Seeing double: a comparison of microstructure, biomechanical function, and adjacent disc health between double-and single-Layer vertebral endplates. Spine 37, no. 21 (2012): E1310-E1317.
A. Hamdan, F. Sahli, R. Richards, and C. Richards. Characterization of a dielectric microdroplet thermal interface material with dispersed nanoparticles. Journal of Nanoparticle Research 14, no. 9 (2012): 1-8.
Pre-prints, Conference Proceedings & Others
S. Levine, T. Battisti, B. Butz, K. D’Souza, F. Sahli, M. Peirlinck. "Dassault Systèmes’ Living Heart Project." In Modelling Congenital Heart Disease, pp. 245-259. Springer, Cham, 2022.
F. Sahli, P. Arratia, H. Mella, S. Uribe, Daniel E. Hurtado. Physics-informed neural networks for image registration: computing cardiac strain. Modeling Cardiac Function (2022)
F. Sahli, P. Arratia, H. Mella, S. Uribe, Daniel E. Hurtado. Physics-informed neural networks for image registration: computing cardiac strain. World Congress in Computational Mechanics (2022)
F. Sahli, Y. Yang, P. Perdikaris, DE. Hurtado, E. Kuhl. Physics-informed neural networks for cardiac activation mapping. Pan American Congress on Computational Mechanics (2021)
F. Sahli, Y. Yang, P. Perdikaris, DE. Hurtado, E. Kuhl. Physics-informed neural networks for cardiac activation mapping. U.S. National Congress in Computational Mechanics (2021)
T. Grandits, S. Pezzuto, F. Sahli, P. Perdikaris, T. Pock, G. Plank, and R. Krause. Learning atrial fiber orientations and conductivity tensors from intracardiac maps using physics-informed neural networks. International Conference on Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart, pp. 650-658. Springer, Cham, 2021.
F. Sahli, P. Perdikaris, E. Kuhl, DE. Hurtado. Multi-fidelity classification using Gaussian processes: accelerating the prediction of large-scale computational models. World Congress in Computational Mechanics (2020).
F. Sahli. Classifying drugs by their arrhythmogenic risk using multiscale modeling and machine learning. Workshop in Uncertainty quantification for cardiac models, Isaac Newton Institute, University of Cambridge, UK.
F. Sahli, K. Matsuno, J. Yao, P. Perdikaris, E. Kuhl. Machine learning in drug development: Characterizing the effect of 30 drugs on the QT interval using Gaussian process regression, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification. U.S. National Congress in Computational Mechanics
F. Sahli, J. Yao, E. Kuhl. A high resolution multiscale model to study drug-induced arrhythmias (2018). World Congress on Computational Mechanics
F. Sahli, FA. Concha, DE. Hurtado, E. Kuhl. The importance of mechano-electrical feedback and inertia in cardiac electromechanics (2017). U.S. National Congress of Computational Mechanics
SM. Narayan, T. Baykaner, F. Sahli, E. Kuhl. Terminating atrial fibrillation by cooling the heart. Editorial Commentary in Heart Rhythm. 2016;13:2259-2260
F. Sahli, DE. Hurtado, E. Kuhl. Generating Purkinje networks in the human heart (2016). World Congress of Computational Mechanics.
F. Sahli, J. Cuellar, A. Pérez, M. Campos, J. Ramos-Grez (2011). Estudio mediante elementos finitos de vértebras porcinas afectadas por tumores simulados. X Jornadas de mecánica computacional.
AJ. Fields, F. Sahli, AG. Rodriguez, J. Ramos-Grez, TM. Keaveny, JC. Lotz (2011). Effects of endplate microstructure on biomechanical integrity. New Horizons in intervertebral disc research.
AJ. Fields, F. Sahli, AG. Rodriguez, J. Ramos-Grez, TM. Keaveny, JC. Lotz (2011). Comparison of biomechanical behavior, morphology, and disc health between double-layer and single-layer endplates. Orthopedic Research Society 2012 Annual Meeting.
AJ. Fields, F. Sahli, AG. Rodriguez, J. Ramos-Grez, TM. Keaveny, JC. Lotz (2011). Influence of endplate morphology on biomechanical behavior in double-layer endplates. Orthopedic Research Society 2012 Annual Meeting.
Invited talks
Workshop on Scientific Machine Learning: Mathematics and Applications, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2022).
International center for Computational Mathematics in Medicine, University of Pavia (2022): Kick-off meeting.
Closer Look journal club (2022).
Cardiac Physiome Meeting (2021).
Research Center on Mathematical Modelling - MODEMAT, Escuela Politécnica Nacional del Ecuador (2021).
Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsynvania (2019).
Funding
Open seed fund - School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2022). Collaboration with Prof. Manuel Rausch from University of Texas, Austin.
Era PerMed - ANID: (2022-2025). "Digital Twins to Treat Atrial Fibrillation". In collaboration with research groups in France and Austria.
Millennium Institute for Intelligent Healthcare Engineering: (2022 - 2032). Adjunct researcher.
Millennium Nucleus for Applied Control and Inverse Problems: (2021 - 2024). Adjunct researcher.
Research Partnership Grant - Leading House for Latin American Region, Switzerland: (2022). Collaboration with Dr. Simone Pezzuto from Universitá della Svizzera Italiana.
FONDECYT - Iniciación: (2022 - 2025). “Physics-informed neural networks for cardiac strain estimation from cine MRI”
Open seed fund - School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2020). Collaboration with Prof. Maria Holland from University of Notre Dame.
FONDECYT - Postdoctoral grant: (2019 - 2022). “Understanding drug-induced arrhythmias with multi-scale modeling and machine learning”
Millennium Nucleus for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance: (2019 - 2021). Young researcher.
Awards
School of Engineering Postdoctoral Fellowship: (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, 2019). Funds one year of postdoctoral projects.
Travel award: (Newton Institute). To attend workshop in uncertainty quantification for cardiac models.
CO-PI in XSEDE grant: (2018). We were awarded 650,000 cpu-hours to study drug-induced arrhythmias using high performance computing.
Hyperion innovation excellence award: (2017). For the development of a computational model to predict drug-induced arrhythmias.
Avonni - Industrial Category: (National Innovation Award, Chile, 2015). At Wenco S.A., I developed a crate to export fruits that saves millions of dollars in raw materials.
Stanford School of Engineering Fellowship (2014-2016)
Fulbright-CONICYT Ph.D Fellowship (2014-2018): Fund to complete doctoral studies.
Ismael Valdes Award: (Chilean Institute of Engineers, 2013). Granted to one engineer per school who demonstrates leadership skills, high moral standards and technical preparation.
Mario Hiriart Award: (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, 2012). Granted to one student of the School of Engineering who combines academic excellence with humanitarian values.
Best Thesis of the Department of Mechanical Engineering: (School of Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, 2012).
Honor Roll (School of Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, 2005) Scholarship awarded during the first year for maximum score in the mathematics university selection test.
Patents
Light and integrated junction system of the walls of a collapsible container.
United States US20150284135A1, filed March 5, 2015. Inventors: Francisco Sahli, Pedro Chinni.
Bottom of a container that optimizes the use of material.
United States US20150283745A1, filed March 5, 2015. Inventors: Francisco Sahli, Pedro Chinni.
Journal Reviewer
Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering (Reviewer and Editorial Board).
Applied Mechanics Reviews.
Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Computers in Biology and Medicine
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
Entropy.
Physical Review X
Engineering with Computers
Frontiers in Physiology
American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
PLOS Computational Biology
Bioengineering
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine
Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
Conference Committees
SIPAIM (2022), program committee.
IPMAS (2022), organizing committee.
International Conference on Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart (2021, 2023), program committee.