Charles Puelz

About

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Houston, with adjunct appointments at Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University.

My interests are in computational mathematics and physiology, with a focus on the cardiovascular system. Much of my work combines numerical methods for partial differential equations with patient-specific modeling, in close collaboration with clinicians, to study congenital heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions.

Before joining UH, I was an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and a Lecturer at Rice, a Courant Instructor at New York University, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of North Carolina. I received my PhD from Rice University in 2017.

Group

Postdoctoral researchers

• Avishek Mukherjee (2026–present)

PhD students

• Tian-Li Yan, University of Houston
• Michael Holland, University of Houston
• Joey Dingillo, University of Houston (co-advised)
• Arshia Singhal, Rice University (co-advised)

Undergraduate researchers

• Mohammed Meje, University of Houston (co-advised with Nicolas Charon)
• Jose Jamarillo, University of Houston (co-advised with Nicolas Charon)

Former students

• Alyssa LaPole, PhD, North Carolina State University, 2024 (co-advised)
• Many undergraduate researchers at UH, Rice, and NYU; see my CV for details.

Teaching

• Fall 2026: Introduction to Numerical Analysis (undergraduate), UH
• Spring 2026: Numerical Partial Differential Equations (graduate), UH
• Fall 2025: Intermediate Differential Equations (undergraduate), UH
• Spring 2025: Linear Algebra (undergraduate), UH

Publications and preprints

2026

• A mass-conservative numerical method for blood flow in closed-loop circulatory systems
  A. Singhal, C. Puelz, B. Riviere
  Submitted, 2026

• A computational framework for quantifying hemodynamic burden in pediatric pulmonary vein stenosis
  M. Bansal, D. Lior, A. Mukherjee, J.S. Heinle, A.M. Qureshi, C. Puelz, R.K. Birla
  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2026

• Near-real-time interactive N-body model of the left atrium for exploratory arrhythmia induction and ablation simulation
  B. Wyatt, L. Rogers, M. Bane, K. Moor, P. Alcorn, G. Williams, K. Brawner, M. Wyatt, C. Puelz
  Heart Rhythm O2, 7(9), pp. 1775–1777, 2026

• Deformable registration of MRA and 4D Flow images to facilitate the estimation of flow properties within large blood vessels
  D.U. Lior, C.G. Rusin, J. Weigand, K.V. Montez, Y. Wang, S. Molossi, D.J. Penny, C. Puelz
  Mathematical Medicine and Biology, dqag008, 2026

• A one-dimensional (1D) computational fluid dynamics study of Fontan-associated liver disease (FALD)
  Y. Li, J. Weigand, C. Puelz, M.S. Olufsen, A.M. Taylor-LaPole
  International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 42(1), e70128, 2026

2025

• A computational approach for intramural length estimation in anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery
  V. Shah, L. Ferrino, D. Reaves-O’Neal, T. Doan, S. Sachdeva, C.G. Rusin, D. Lior, C. Puelz, P. Masand, S. Molossi
  Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 12, 1721523, 2025

• Parameter selection and optimization of a computational network model of blood flow in single-ventricle patients
  A.M. Taylor-LaPole, L.M. Paun, D. Lior, J.D. Weigand, C. Puelz, M.S. Olufsen
  Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 22(223), 20240663, 2025
  Correction: Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 22(232), 20250649, 2025

• Fluid-structure interaction simulations for the prediction of fractional flow reserve in pediatric patients with anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery
  C. Puelz, C.G. Rusin, D. Lior, S. Sachdeva, T.T. Doan, L.F. Eilers, D. Reaves-O’Neal, M. Akula, S. Molossi
  Medical Engineering and Physics, 136, 104293, 2025

2024

• Simulating cardiac fluid dynamics in the human heart
  M. Davey, C. Puelz, S. Rossi, M.A. Smith, D.R. Wells, G. Sturgeon, P. Segars, J.P. Vavalle, C.S. Peskin, B.E. Griffith
  PNAS Nexus, 3(10), pgae392, 2024

• Computational framework for the generation of one-dimensional vascular models accounting for uncertainty in networks extracted from medical images
  M.A. Bartolo, A.M. Taylor-LaPole, D. Gandhi, A. Johnson, Y. Li, E. Slack, I. Stevens, Z. Turner, J. Weigand, C. Puelz, D. Husmeier, M.S. Olufsen
  Journal of Physiology, 602(16), pp. 3929–3954, 2024

• Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery in pediatric patients
  T. Doan, C. Puelz, C. Rusin, S. Molossi
  Current Pediatrics Reports, 12, pp. 69–80, 2024

• Predicting the effects of surgically determined parameters on exercise tolerance in Fontan patients
  C. Kritpracha, B. Riviere, C. Puelz
  Medical Engineering and Physics, 128, 104152, 2024

2023

• A computational study of aortic reconstruction in single ventricle patients
  A.M. Taylor-LaPole, M.J. Colebank, J. Weigand, M.S. Olufsen, C. Puelz
  Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 22(1), pp. 357–377, 2023

• Semi-automated construction of patient-specific aortic valves from computed tomography images
  D. Lior, C. Puelz, C. Edwards, S. Molossi, B. Griffith, R. Birla, C. Rusin
  Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 51(1), pp. 189–199, 2023

• Fluid–structure interaction model of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in a patient-specific aortic root
  J.A. Brown, J.H. Lee, M.A. Smith, D.R. Wells, A. Barrett, C. Puelz, J.P. Vavalle, B.E. Griffith
  Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 51(1), pp. 103–116, 2023

• Computer simulation of surgical interventions for the treatment of refractory pulmonary hypertension
  S.W. Han, C. Puelz, C.G. Rusin, D.J. Penny, R. Coleman, C.S. Peskin
  Mathematical Medicine and Biology, 40(1), pp. 1–23, 2023

2022

• Optimal fenestration of the Fontan circulation
  Z. Ahmad, L.H. Jin, D.J. Penny, C. Rusin, C.S. Peskin, C. Puelz
  Frontiers in Physiology, 13, 867995, 2022

• Simulating liquid-gas interfaces and moving contact lines with the immersed boundary method
  M.Y. Li, D. Chin, C. Puelz, P. Sanaei
  Physics of Fluids, 34(5), 053323, 2022

• A discontinuous Galerkin method for blood flow and solute transport in one dimensional vessel networks
  R. Masri, C. Puelz, B. Riviere
  Communications on Applied Mathematics and Computation, 4(2), pp. 500–529, 2022

2021

• A reduced model for solute transport in compliant blood vessels with arbitrary axial velocity profile
  R. Masri, C. Puelz, B. Riviere
  International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 176, 121379, 2021

• Models for plasma kinetics during simultaneous therapeutic plasma exchange and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
  C. Puelz, Z. Danial, J.S. Raval, J. Marinaro, B.E. Griffith, C.S. Peskin
  Mathematical Medicine and Biology, 38(2), pp. 255–271, 2021

• A physiological model of the inflammatory-thermal-pain-cardiovascular interactions during an endotoxin challenge
  A. Dobreva, R. Brady-Nicholls, K. Larripa, C. Puelz, J. Mehlsen, M. Olufsen
  Journal of Physiology, 599(5), pp. 1459–1485, 2021

• Mathematical modeling of the impact of recirculation on exchange kinetics in tandem extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and therapeutic plasma exchange
  C. Puelz, J. Marinaro, Y.A. Park, B.E. Griffith, C.S. Peskin, J.S. Raval
  Journal of Clinical Apheresis, 36(1), pp. 6–11, 2021

2020

• A sharp interface method for an immersed viscoelastic solid
  C. Puelz, B.E. Griffith
  Journal of Computational Physics, 409, 109217, 2020

2018

• A priori error estimates of Adams-Bashforth discontinuous Galerkin methods for scalar nonlinear conservation laws
  C. Puelz, B. Riviere
  Journal of Numerical Mathematics, 26(3), pp. 151–172, 2018

2017

• A computational study of the Fontan circulation with fenestration or hepatic vein exclusion
  C. Puelz, S. Acosta, B. Riviere, D. Penny, K. Brady, C.G. Rusin
  Computers in Biology and Medicine, 89, pp. 405–418, 2017

• Cardiovascular mechanics in the early stages of pulmonary hypertension: a computational study
  S. Acosta, C. Puelz, B. Riviere, D. Penny, K. Brady, C.G. Rusin
  Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 16(6), pp. 2093–2112, 2017

• Convergence of IPDG for coupled time-dependent Navier-Stokes and Darcy equations
  N. Chaabane, V. Girault, C. Puelz, B. Riviere
  Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, 324, pp. 25–48, 2017

• Comparison of reduced models for blood flow using Runge-Kutta discontinuous Galerkin methods
  C. Puelz, B. Riviere, S. Canic, C.G. Rusin
  Applied Numerical Mathematics, 115, pp. 114–141, 2017

2015

• Numerical method of characteristics for one-dimensional blood flow
  S. Acosta, C. Puelz, B. Riviere, D. Penny, C.G. Rusin
  Journal of Computational Physics, 294, pp. 96–109, 2015

• Spectral approximation for quasiperiodic Jacobi operators
  C. Puelz, M. Embree, J. Fillman
  Integral Equations and Operator Theory, 82(4), pp. 533–554, 2015