{"id":7,"date":"2013-09-10T17:29:54","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T16:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/katarzynapirog\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:49:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T15:49:50","slug":"lab-members","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/piroglab\/lab-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Lab members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Katarzyna (Kasia) Pir\u00f3g<\/a> <\/strong>(Senior Lecturer)<\/span><\/span>– Kasia completed her PhD at the University of Manchester, generating and characterising transgenic models of chondrodysplasias. She then broadened that research scope to include investigation of other musculoskeletal tissues such as tendon, ligament and skeletal muscle, looking at the cell’s reaction to the production of mutant protein as well as the changes in the extracellular matrix and their biomechanical implications. She is specifically interested in cell-matrix interactions in musculoskeletal tissues in development, disease and during ageing. She is a member of the Editorial Board for Matrix Biology<\/a> and Matrix Biology Plus<\/a> journals (Elsevier), and is passionate about disseminating science and engaging with the public. She led a WP9 (Dissemination, training and commercialisation) package of the EU-FP7 SYBIL project<\/a>, a Genomic Medicine PPI Working Group at the Institute of Genetic Medicine (IGM) in Newcastle, and chaired the IGM Public Engagement committee<\/a> (2013-2019). She is currently a public engagement WP lead in the MSCA CHANGE DN project<\/a> and the Chair of the Bursary Committee and an ex-officio committee member of the British Society of Matrix Biology<\/a> (BSMB) Organising Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Research Associates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr Ella Dennis<\/a><\/strong> – Dr Dennis is the Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) on the MRC funded project researching drug repurposing for rare skeletal diseases, supervised by Prof Michael Briggs (lead PI), Dr Katarzyna Pirog (co-PI) and Prof David Young (co-PI). Dr Dennis is an expert in cellular stress models (ER stress, oxidative stress, autophagy) and has over 10 years of expertise of deep phenotyping and characterising preclinical models of common and rare skeletal diseases, and cancer bone metastases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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PhD students<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anna Porter<\/strong> (Paediatric Orthopaedic Trainee, clinical PhD student) – Anna joined us in 2023 on a project using molecular biology, tissue engineering and systems biology to understand the rebound phenomenon and responses in growth plates of chondrodysplasia patients undergoing guided growth surgery, with an aim of refining the management and interventions in patients with rare skeletal diseases. Anna is co-supervised with Dr Kenneth Rankin from the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Roufaida Bouchenafa<\/strong><\/a> (MSCA Researcher) – Roufaida is passionate about academic research in biology and biomedical sciences, with interest in the interdisciplinary approaches combining biology, technology, engineering, and nanotechnologies to target disease. She joined us in 2023 as part of the EU Horizon Europe CHANGE MSCA network, to investigate the age-related complications in rare skeletal dysplasia. Roufaida is co-supervised by Prof Michael Briggs from Biosciences Institute (NUBI) at Newcastle University.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Maria Lazari <\/strong>(PhD student) – Maria is a PhD student funded by the Food and Environmental Research Agency (FERA) to study aggregation of muscle tissue in vitro, and assess its bioreactor compatibility and the nutritional profile for scaling up of engineered meat production. Maria is co-supervised by Prof Jordi Diaz Manera (Newcastle University), and will perform her experiments at Newcastle, University College London (UCL) and FERA as part of her PhD.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Cagla Erdas<\/strong> (PhD student) is a PhD student in in Regenerative Biomaterials, whose research focuses on engineering cell-responsive hydrogels that support tissue repair, modulate cell behaviour, and adapt to dynamic biological environments. Cagla is a medical doctor and holds an MSc in Nanotechnology & Regenerative Medicine from the University College London (UCL). Cagla is co-supervised by Prof Francisco Figueiredo.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Aamar Ghouri <\/strong>– Aamar joined us in 2026. His project, part of the EPSRC DLA PhD studentship, aims to build a joint-on-a-chip model, incorporating synovial tissues and microfluidics to model arthrodial joint environment. Amar is co-supervised with Dr Ana Ferreira-Duarte (primary supervisor, School Engineering), Dr Priscila Melo (School of Engineering) and Prof Catharien Hilkens (Translational & Clinical Research Institute).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

MRes students<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n