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Background
I completed my Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology in the Immunology Department followed by a Masters Degree in Molecular Biotechnology in Cell Biology Department at Jagiellonian University, Cracow in Poland. During my master studies, I undertook the ERASMUS+ Internship program and worked for 3 months at Sheffield University in the Material Science and Engineering Department under the supervision of Prof Gwen Reilly. After my master graduation, I took up the position as Research Assistant in CITID, NIHR Cambridge BRC Phenotyping Hub at Cambridge University where I developed expertise in Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting. I was subsequently recruited into another Research Assistant position also at Cambridge University but this time in the Wellcome-MRC Stem Cell Institute in the group led by Prof Ludovic Vallier, where I was deriving patient specific iPSCs, organoids and deriving cell lines with specific mutations using gene-editing technology to provide advanced models of the diseases. In October 2021 I started a NC3R-funded PhD studentship at the University of Liverpool under the joint supervision of Dr Marie Yang, Dr David Turner and Prof Aras Kadioglu.
Research
My current PhD project is focusing on deriving a placenta-on-chip model to study feto-maternal interface: visualisation of pathogen and antibody in a 3D in vitro human placental model. The urgent need to provide a new model to study cross-placental transport of pathogens, antibodies and drugs results from the failure in the usage of animal model which cannot mimic structural and/or functional properties of the human placenta, ex vivo human models are impractical, difficult to set up, of limited capability, and in vitro models lack physiological relevance by virtue of their monolayer and/or static set-up. This model is going to help to better understand the mechanisms underlying the transmission of pathogens, the transfer of passive immunity and drugs from the mother to the foetus.
Publications
“Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells Seeded on Integra® Dermal Regeneration Template Improve Post-Burn Wound Reconstruction“, 2020, Bioengineering, 7(3):67. Marcin Piejko, Karolina Radziun, Sylwia Bobis-Wozowicz , Agnieszka Waligórska, Eliza Zimoląg, Michał Nessler, Anna Chrapusta, Zbigniew Madeja, Justyna Drukała https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32630660/
“Fucoidan Inhibition of Osteosarcoma Cells Is Species and Molecular Weight Dependent“, 2020, Marine Drugs, 18(2):104. Dhanak Gupta, Melissa Silva, Karolina Radziun, Diana C Martinez, Christopher J Hill, Julie Marshall, Vanessa Hearnden, Miguel A Puertas-Mejia, Gwendolen C Reillyhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32046368/
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