BMT Early Stage Researchers
Team Profiles
Joëlle Bizeau
Doctoral Candidate
Joelle.Bizeau
nuigalway.ie
Joëlle is holding two masters degrees, one in Chemical Engineering and one in Fundamental and Applied Chemistry. She is interested in the relationship between chemistry and biology, and fascinated by the application range of nano-systems in medicine, particularly their capacity in targeting specific sites to provide controlled drug release. Joëlle is working in the BrainMatTrain Project, under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG).
Sílvia Cabré Giménez
Doctoral Candidate
silvia.cabrenuigalway.ie
Sílvia obtained a BSc in Human Biology and a MSc in Pharmaceutical Industry and Biotechnology, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain. She worked in the pain research group in ESTEVE S.A. Her research interests are focused on neuropharmacology and the use of biomaterials in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. She is working in in the BrainMatTrain project under the supervision of Dr. Eilis Dowd and Prof. Abhay Pandit at National University Ireland Galway (NUIG).
Ana Lúcia Rebelo
Ana Lúcia obtained her MSc in Bioengineering (branch of Molecular Biotechnology) at University of Porto, Portugal. Her main research interests comprise biomaterials and their application in regenerative medicine, namely in the central nervous system. Currently she is working in the BrainMatTrain Project, under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG).
Enrico Bagnoli
Doctoral Candidate
enrico.bagnolinuigalway.ie
Enrico obtained a BSc in Biomedical Engineering and a MSc in Bioengineering (curriculum Biomaterials and Rehabilitation Technologies) at the University of Genoa, Italy. In CÚRAM, his research is focused on the use of biomaterials in the cure of neurodegenerative diseases in particular Parkinson’s disease. Enrico is working on the BrainMatTrain project under the supervision of Dr Una Fitzgerald and Prof. Abhay Pandit at the University of Ireland Galway (NUIG).
Veronica Alamilla Marroquin
Doctoral Candidate
V.Alamilla1nuigalway.ie
Veronica obtained her BSc in Biological Sciences at the Northern Kentucky University, USA and her MSc in Neuropharmacology at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG). Her research interests include neurodegenerative diseases, regenerative neuroscience, development of biomaterials and pharmacology. In the BrainMatTrain project Veronica is developing biomaterials and novel treatments for Parkinson´s Disease. She is working under the supervision of Dr. Eilís Dowd and Prof. Abhay Pandit at NUIG
Buket Uçar
Doctoral Candidate
Buket.Ucari-med.ac.at
Buket is holding two masters degrees, one in Biomedical Engineering and one in Bioengineering. During her Master’s thesis, she established an organotypic brain slice culture model for traumatic brain injury and investigated the changes in blood-brain barrier as well as tau protein aggregation due to brain trauma. Within BrainMatTrain, she is working under the supervision of Prof Christian Humpel at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria.
Marcella Birtele
Doctoral Candidate
marcella.birtelemed.lu.se
Marcella obtained her BSc in Biology at the University of Ferrara, Italy and her MSc in Neuroscience, University of Trieste, Italy. Her research interests are focused on the mechanisms occurring in the process of neurodegenerative diseases such as in Parkinson’s Disease. In the BrainMatTrain project Marcella is working on stem cell biology, cellular reprogramming, and electrophysiology under the supervision of Prof. Malin Parmar and Dr. Daniella Ottosson, Lund University, Sweden.
Janko Kajtez
Doctoral Candidate
jakajnanotech.dtu.dk
Janko obtained his MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at KU Leuven, Belgium and at TU Dresden, Germany. His research interests include bioprinting, tissue engineering, and microfluidics. In the BrainMatTrain project, Janko is working on the development and assessment of biomaterials for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. He is working under the supervision of Dr. Jenny Emnéus and Dr. Arto Heiskanen at the Technical University of Denmark.
Shelby Shrigley
Doctoral Candidate
shelby.shrigleymed.lu.se
Shelby obtained a BSc in Neuroscience and Psychology and a MSc in Neuroscience Research at Keele University, UK. Her research interests are focused on neuroprotection, neuroregeneration and functional integration. In the BrainMatTrain project Shelby is working on in vivo characterisation of biomaterial-based delivery systems for Parkinson’s disease including cell transplantation. She is working under the supervision of Prof. Malin Parmar and Dr. Deirdre Hoban at Lund University, Sweden.
Francesco Gubinelli
Doctoral Candidate
Francesco.Gubinellicea.fr
Francesco obtained his BSc in Clinical Applied Psychology and Medicine at the Univ. of Rome La Sapienza – Italy and his MSc in Molecular Biotechnology in Jagiellonian Univ. of Krakow – Poland. His research interests include the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine with special interest in extracellular vesicles derived from iPSCs. Within the BrainMatTrain project, he is working under the supervision of Dr. Emmanuel Brouillet at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).
Pauline Roost
Doctoral Candidate
pauline.roostcea.fr
Pauline obtained her MSc in Medical Biology at Radboud University Nijmegen. Her research interests are focused on molecular neurobiology and neurodegenerative diseases. In the BrainMatTrain project Pauline will be looking at the long-term effects on neuronal repair in an in vivo model of PD. She is working under the supervision of Dr. Philippe Hantraye and Nadja van Camp, PhD, at the Molecular Imaging Research Center (MIRCen) of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).
Anna Santaella
Doctoral Candidate
Anna.Santaellaradboudumc.nl
Anna obtained her BSc in Biotech. at Univ. Autonoma Barcelona, Spain and her MSc in Med. Neurosci. at Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany. Her research interests include neurodegenerative diseases, biomarkers and translational medicine. In the BrainMatTrain project Anna is using proteomics to investigate the pathophysiological and neuroprotective mechanisms in PD models. She is working under the supervision of Dr. Marcel M. Verbeek at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Jose Manuel Rey
jose.manuelreycollagensolutions.com
Jose obtained his BSc in Biomedical Eng. in Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, and his MSc in Plastics and Rubbers in the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid. His interests include biomaterials, their mechanical optimization and applications in regenerative medicine. He is currently working at Collagen Solutions Plc, Glasgow, within the BrainMatTrain project for the scale-up of biomaterials production for Parkinson’s Disease, under the supervision of Dr. Grahame Busby (COS).
Olivia Wing Zhi Ng
Doctoral Candidate
olivia.ngorbsentherapeutics.com
Olivia obtained her BSc in Biomedical Science (focussing on Pharmacology) at King’s College London, UK. She later completed her MSc in Immunology and Immunotherapy at the University of Birmingham, UK. At Orbsen Therapeutics, as part of the BrainMatTrain project she is working on the development and characterisation of mesenchymal stromal cells; then investigating their therapeutic potential in Parkinson’s Disease. Olivia is under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Elliman and Dr. Eilís Dowd.
Ioanna Syntouka
marianna.syntoukacollagensolutions.com
Ioanna obtained her BSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Patras, Greece and her MRes in Biomedical Sciences (focus on Cell Engineering) at the University of Glasgow, UK. Her research interests include regenerative neuroscience, drug delivery and biomaterials. In the BrainMatTrain project, Ioanna is developing a delivery device designed for a hydrogel system for Parkinson’s Disease. She is working under the supervision of Dr. Grahame Busby at Collagen Solutions Plc, Glasgow.