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Postgraduate

Team Profiles

Aert Scheper

Aert Scheper

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Aert obtained a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and MSc in Regenerative Medicine & Technology from Utrecht University. His research interests include biomaterials, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. At CÚRAM, Aert is working under supervision of Prof. Pandit in the PREMUROSA project.

Alexandre Trotier

Alexandre Trotier

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Alexandre received a Bachelor of Life and Earth Science, specialising in Biology and a MSc in Gene, Cell and Tissue Biotherapies, University Paris - Est Créteil, France. His research interests include: biomaterial tissue engineering, polymers, neuroscience and neural repair. Alexandre is working on a CÚRAM project under the supervision of Dr Manus Biggs.

Alexandre Watigny

Alexandre Watigny

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Alexandre did a “Cursus Master of Engineering” (CMI), where he received a BSc in Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, followed with a MSc in Biomaterial for health and finally a CMI certification label, at the newly CY Tech Cergy-Paris University, France. His research interests focus on Tissue Engineering and Biomaterial for skin repair. Alexandre is working under the supervision of Dr. Dimitrios Zeugolis, in collaboration with Viscus Biologics to develop novel therapy biomaterials for wound repair.

Amir Mohammed Abdo

Amir Mohammed Abdo

Doctoral Candidate

Amir received a BSc in Chemistry & Biochemistry, MSc in Biochemistry, Helwan University, Egypt and MSc in Biological& Bioprocess Engineering, Sheffield University, U.K. He spent some time working as a research assistant of chemistry at NCRRT, Egypt. In CÚRAM, he is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit on the designing of nitric oxide scavengers.

Ana Lúcia Rebelo

Ana Lúcia Rebelo

Doctoral Candidate

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).

Andrea De Pieri

Andrea De Pieri

Doctoral Candidate

Andrea received a Bachelor Degree in Health Biotechnologies and Masters Degree in Medical Biotechnologies, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy. Andrea's area of research is the fabrication of electrospun polymeric fibres and the development of scaffold-free tissue engineering strategies for tendon regeneration. He is now undertaking a PhD in collaboration with Proxy Biomedical, under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Anna Sorushanova

Anna Sorushanova

Doctoral Candidate

Anna obtained a BSc in Biomedical Science, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland. Her research interests include: cell culture, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Anna is working under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Augusto Loffredo

Augusto Loffredo

Doctoral Candidate

Augusto received a Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnological Engineering at UNESP, Brazil, and he studied one year of Biomedical Engineering in NUI Galway. He worked for four years in the Physics, Biophysics and Biomaterials lab of UNESP – Assis. His research interests include biomaterials, polymers and medical devices development. He is working under the supervision of Dr Manus Biggs on the development of microelectrodes for further medical applications.

Benazir Abbasi

Benazir Abbasi

Doctoral Candidate

Benazir completed her Medical school (MBBS) in 2011 in Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, Sindh Pakistan. Benazir’s study focuses on the early detection of Neutropenia and she intends to develop a non-invasive medical device to measure neutrophils in cancer patients on chemotherapy. She is working under the supervision of Dr Sanjeev Gupta and Dr Ananya Gupta.

Blake Bowers

Blake Bowers

Doctoral Candidate

Blake received a BSc in Mathematics from NUI Galway, and then obtained a masters in International Entrepreneurship Management from the University of Limerick. Blake is working under the supervision of Prof. Jonathan Levie on the Commercialisation of CÚRAM's technologies. His research interests include: Commercialisation, innovation, technological entrepreneurship, and strategy.

Büşra Günay

Büşra Günay

Doctoral Candidate

Büşra has a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Biotechnology, Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey. Her research area includes bone tissue engineering, biomaterials and regenerative medicine with orthopaedic applications. In CÚRAM, she is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit in collaboration with Dr Sibylle Grad of AO Foundation, Davos, Switzerland.

Catherine Healy

Catherine Healy

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

4. Catherine obtained a BSc in Biomedical Sciences with a specialisation in Pharmacology from NUI Galway in 2020. Her research interests include neuroscience, the endocannabinoid system, chronic pain, and wound healing. Catherine is undertaking an industry-partnered project under the supervision of Prof David Finn, and co-supervision of Prof Abhay Pandit and Dr Georgina Gethin.

Christopher Lally

Christopher Lally

Doctoral Candidate

Christopher holds a BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience from University College Dublin and an MSc in Biotechnology from NUI Galway. He has spent some time working as a process scientist with Bionua, a small biopharmaceutical start-up. Christopher's current focus at CÚRAM is the development of device-based solutions for unmet needs in multiple sclerosis, under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit and Dr Una Fitzgerald.

Daniela Costa

Daniela Costa

Doctoral Candidate

Daniela graduated in Biochemistry and received an MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Univ. of Coimbra, Portugal. Later, she engaged in a Michael J. Fox Foundation-funded project at the Univ. of Bordeaux. As part of the EU ITN PMSMatTrain consortium, she is currently developing a therapeutic agent delivery system for Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Daniela will be carrying out her research under the supervision of Dr Una Fitzgerald and co-supervision of Dr Jill McMahon at NUIG.

Enrico Bagnoli

Enrico Bagnoli

Doctoral Candidate

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.

Eugenia Pugliese

Eugenia Pugliese

Doctoral Candidate

Eugenia obtained a Bsc and an Msc in Industrial Biotechnology, University of Bari (Aldo Moro), Italy.Her research area is in biomaterials (polymer films and nanoparticles) for biomedical applications. Her current area of research within CÚRAM is the development of collagen-based films. Eugenia is working under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Gillian Murphy

Gillian Murphy

Doctoral Candidate

Gillian graduated in 2012 with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology, National University of Ireland, Galway. She was a Chemistry Analytical Scientist at GSK, R&D Analytical and R&D Formulation Scientist at Mylan. She is undertaking an industrial-partnered project funded by Mylan. Key elements of her project in CÚRAM will be in the development of a novel sustained release drug delivery system. Gillian is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Guillermo Palop

Guillermo Palop

Doctoral Candidate

Guillermo holds a BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Organic Chemistry from Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Spain. He has spent some time working in REPSOL, a Spanish petrochemical multinational, and as a predoctoral researcher in UCM. His research focuses on the development of reagents and methods for preparing synthetic collagen- and elastin-type materials for regenerative medicine, under the supervision of Dr Eddie Myers.

Hendrik Müller

Hendrik Müller

Doctoral Candidate

Hendrik obtained a BSc and MSc in Medical Engineering Science, Universität zu Lübeck. Research interest include biophysics, fluidics, laser applications and imaging. He is working on a CÚRAM project to develop and evaluate novel devices for wound treatment. The project centres on creating an artificial wound model using the printed electronics and biomaterials manufacturing test-bed under development at NUI Galway. Under supervision of Dr Gerard O’Connor and Dr Georgina Gethin.

Hong Cong

Hong Cong

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Hong Cong graduated with Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Medicine from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University, Changsha city, China. In 2020, with the funding of China Scholarship Council and NUI Galway, he arrived in Ireland to start a 4-year PhD research program. His research interests include adrenocortical cell, tumor immune microenvironment and nanoparticle novel therapy. At CÚRAM, Hong Cong is working under supervision of Dr Michael Conall Dennedy.

Ignacio Sallent

Ignacio Sallent

Doctoral Candidate

Ignacio obtained a BSc in Biology from the University of Barcelona, Spain and an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Imperial College London.Ignacio's area of research is in biomaterials and tissue engineering for musculoskeletal tissues. He is working on the Tendon Therapy Train Project under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

James Britton

James Britton

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

James received a BSc in Physiology and a MSc in Regenerative Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway. As part of his studies he undertook a research project in the group of Prof. Abhay Pandit investigating the regenerative capacity of Xenopus tadpoles after spinal cord injury. Within CÚRAM he is working under the supervision of Dr Manus Biggs. His research interests include: nerve regeneration, tissue engineered 3D scaffolds, piezoelectric biomaterials and physiological assays.

João Coentro

João Coentro

Doctoral Candidate

João received a MSc in Bioengineering- Molecular Biotechnology, University of Porto, Portugal. His research area is in cell-guiding collagen-based scaffolds for regenerative medicine application. He is working under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Katie McGarry

Katie McGarry

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Katie received her BSc (Hons) in Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology and her MSc in Nanomaterials Chemistry from University College Dublin. Her research involves the preparation of magnetically responsive composites by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles in peptide hydrogels (Pepti-Gels) for biomedical applications in cancer therapy and MRI imaging. In CÚRAM she is working under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dermot Brougham in University College Dublin in collaboration with Manchester BIOGEL.

Kieran Joyce

Kieran Joyce

Doctoral Candidate

Kieran graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Sciences as part of an integrated MB PhD program in NUI Galway. In CÚRAM, he will investigate the glycoprofile of the intervertebral disc in degeneration under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Mansoor Al-waeel

Mansoor Al-waeel

Doctoral Candidate

Mansoor received Doctor of Pharmacy (bachelor’s) from University of Peshawar, Pakistan. He received Erasmus Mundus joint Master’s in Nanomedicine for drug delivery from the University of Paris Descartes, France in collaboration with the University of Pavia, Italy, University of Patras, Greece and University of Angers France. Mansoor spent some time working at Alfasigma S.p.A. pharmaceuticals, Italy. Currently, he is working in the PMSMatTrain project under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit at CÚRAM.

Małgorzata Dąbrowska

Małgorzata Dąbrowska

Doctoral Candidate

Małgorzata received her MSc in Neuroscience at Jagiellonian Univ. Cracow, Poland. During her thesis, she worked on the impact of a KCNQ1 channel mutation associated with the Brugada Syndrome at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Later, she worked at the Małopolskie Centre of Biotechnology in Cracow, Poland. Małgorzata has a deep passion for the neurodegenerative side of neuroscience, especially multiple sclerosis. In CÚRAM, she is working under supervision of Dr Una Fitzgerald in the PMSMatTrain project.

Meletios-Nikolaos Doulgkeroglou

Meletios-Nikolaos Doulgkeroglou

Doctoral Candidate

Meletios obtained an MSc in Mechanical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece in 2009. In 2017, he received an MSc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Patras, Greece. His research interests include the development of biomaterials using different methods such as electrospinning for soft tissue engineering. Meletios is working in the REMODEL group under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis.

Mohamed El Amri

Mohamed El Amri

Doctoral Candidate

Mohamed received a BSc in Biological Sciences from St. Joseph's College, in New York City. Mohamed's general area of research is Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Prior to his masters, he was mainly involved in research investigating developmental cell signalling mechanisms. In CÚRAM, under the supervision of Dr Gerhard Schlosser, he is studying the role of MARCKS-like proteins in Xenopus spinal cord development.

Naledi Shologu

Naledi Shologu

Doctoral Candidate

Naledi received a BSc (Honours) in Medical Biotechnology, Institute of Technology Sligo and a MSc in Biomedical Science, National University of Ireland Galway. Her research interests include: stem cell research, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. She is working under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Niall Treacy

Niall Treacy

Doctoral Candidate

Niall graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology. His current research within CÚRAM investigates the use of fully synthetic peptide hydrogels to act as a support matrix for the growth and differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cell derived kidney organoids. Niall is working under the supervision of Dr. John Crean within the Diabetes Complications Research Centre in UCD.

Niamh Geoghegan

Niamh Geoghegan

Doctoral Candidate

Niamh graduated from University College Dublin with a BSc (Hons) in Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology. She is undertaking a PhD in the Kelleher Nanostructured Biomaterials Group based in the School of Chemistry, UCD. Within CÚRAM, her research is focused on biodegradable nanoneedle arrays and their potential for cell/tissue penetration for medical device applications. Niamh is working under the supervision of Dr Susan Kelleher.

Nuno Silva

Nuno Silva

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Nuno Silva is a PhD student in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in the NUI Galway, under supervision of Dr Adnan Elahi and Dr Martin O’Halloran in the Translational Medical Device Lab. His research is focused in electromagnetic inductive methods to be applied in biomedical sensors, specifically on the development of a surveillance monitoring sensor for aortic aneurisms. Nuno received his BSc and MSc in Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering from University of Lisbon in 2019.

Peter McGlynn

Peter McGlynn

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Peter received a BSc in Applied Physics, Dublin City University and an MSc in Key Enabling Technologies, National University of Ireland, Galway. His research interests include: laser technology, advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, microelectronics, microfluidics and biomaterials. Currently, he is working on a CÚRAM project to develop a biomaterials manufacturing testbed using additive and subtractive processes for scalable production. He is working under the supervision of Dr Gerard O’Connor.

Preethem Srinath

Preethem Srinath

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Preethem received his BS in Biomedical Engineering from Drexel University, USA and his MSc in Regenerative Medicine from Manipal University, India. His research interests include developing biomaterial-based solutions to address unmet clinical needs, tissue engineered in vitro models to study disease, and 3D Bioprinting. He will be working on Extracellular Matrix based drug delivery systems to alleviate chronic pain in non-healing wounds, under the supervision of Prof Abhay Pandit.

Rahul Bhatti

Rahul Bhatti

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Rahul has completed B.Sc. (Hons.) Chemistry from Hansraj College, University of Delhi and Masters in Chemistry from Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, India. His research focuses on developing polymerbased drug delivery system. In CURAM, Rahul will be working on preparing Polymer based nanosphere for targeting Multiple Myeloma under the supervision of Prof Abhay Pandit.

Rita Peixoto

Rita Peixoto

Doctoral Candidate

Rita obtained a BSc in Biological Engineering and a MSc in Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Portugal. Her work in CÚRAM focuses on wound healing. She is working under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Salomé Guillaumin

Salomé Guillaumin

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Salomé completed her bachelor degree in cell biology and physiology from university Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France and her master degree in regenerative medicine from University Paris 13, France. Her area of research is the use of mesenchymal stem cells for organ regeneration, with biomaterial devices to enhance the regeneration process. Salomé is working under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Secil Demir

Secil Demir

Doctoral Candidate

Secil received a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics, Istanbul University, Turkey and a MSc in Biotechnology from Yeditepe University, Turkey. Her main field of interest lies in regenerative medicine with special emphasis on molecular biology techniques such as gene therapy for tissue regeneration. Secil is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Seán O'Halloran

Seán O'Halloran

Doctoral Candidate

Seán received his BSc in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in DCU. His research is based on the development of hybrid gene editing biomaterials and biocompatible coatings for medical devices, to act as superoxide dismutase catalysts, using 3D laser lithography, “Click” chemistry and chelating ligands. His work is performed within the Nano Research Facility in DCU on the reduction of oxidative stress due to reactive oxygen species under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Kellett.

Shanshan Du

Shanshan Du

Doctoral Candidate

Shanshan Du received a BSc in Biology Science and a MSc in Physiology. She spent a number of years as a TEM/SEM technician in Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Her research interests include neuroscience, neural repair and regenerative medicine. Shanshan is working on a CÚRAM project under the supervision of Prof. Timothy O'Brien.

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Shubhasmin Rana

Shubhasmin Rana

Doctoral Candidate

Shubhasmin completed her BSc (Hons) in Chemistry, S.B. women’s college Cuttack, Odisha, India under Utkal University and MSc in Chemistry, National Institute of Technology(NIT) Rourkela, Odisha, India.Her research interests include biomaterials, electrospinning and bone tissue engineering.Shubhasmin is working under supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Vaibhav Patil

Vaibhav Patil

Doctoral Candidate

Vaibhav received a BSc in Biotechnology, Mumbai University in India and an MSc in Neuropharmacology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. After completing his Master's degree he worked as a research associate in CÚRAM. His research interest is spinal cord injury and inflammation. He is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Vaishali Chugh

Vaishali Chugh

Doctoral Candidate

Vaishali obtained a BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Chemistry (Specialization in Organic Chemistry) from University of Delhi, Hansraj College, India. She has also worked as Project Fellow in IIT, Kanpur and University of Delhi, India. Her research interests include Designing Nucleic Acid Responsive Delivery System. Vaishali is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Yağmur Bozkurt

Yağmur Bozkurt

Doctoral Candidate

Yagmur received her BSc degree in Genetics and Bioengineering and her MSc in Bioengineering in Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul. Her main research interests comprises biomaterials, drug delivery systems and their application in medicine. Currently she is working in the PMSMatTrain Project under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit at CÚRAM.

Yi Jan Lim

Yi Jan Lim

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Yi Jan Lim is in his second year of his PhD where his primary focus is designing a 3D reconstruction of the adrenal glands and their surrounding organs. The 3D reconstruction, based on accumulated computed tomography scans, will aid the development of a simulation model which can facilitate probe design and placement for predictive ablative procedures. Yi Jan completed his BSc in pharmacology and therapeutics in 2019 and started his PhD in October 2019 under the supervision of Dr Michael Conall Dennedy.