I got my BS and MS degrees both in Applied Physics and Mathematics form the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Since the fall of 2000, I have been a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. My current research interests are in the area of microvascular blood flow dynamics. We have constructed an artificial network of microchannels with dimensions and topology similar to that of a real microvascular network. Notwithstanding certain limitations, the first prototype demonstrates a number of blood flow patterns that are characteristic of the microcirculation and allows easy observation and quantification of microvascular blood flow by the means of high-speed imaging. This device has great potential to become a valid model of microcirculation in vitro and fill the gap between experimental systems in vivo and computer simulations. It also provides a unique opportunity to study microvascular hemodynamics in the absence of vessel-mediated biological control. We are especially eager to understand the effect of red blood cell deformability on the flow dynamics as well as the phenomenon of ‘flowmotion’ in the microvascular networks.