Research Focus
My research sits at the intersection of stem cell biology and cardiac tissue engineering. I specialise in building 3D tissue models from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) — models that replicate the complexity of the human heart for drug testing and developmental studies.
Areas of Expertise
- iPSC Technology — Reprogramming adult cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, differentiation into cardiomyocytes
- Cardiac Tissue Engineering — Building 3D Engineered Heart Tissues (EHTs) from iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes
- Chamber-Specific Models — Atrial vs. ventricular EHTs for studying cardiac development
- Pharmacological Screening — EHTs as drug-testing platforms for cardiotoxicity and arrhythmia detection
- Cardiac Fibroblast Biology — FIBROdrive project: fibroblast influence on cardiomyocyte specialization
- Ion Channel Electrophysiology — KCa2 channel inhibition in EHT models
- Macrophage Interactions — Immune cell role in cardiac tissue regeneration
Key Publication
Kaluzna, Nadel, Zimna et al. (2022) — “Modeling the human heart ex vivo — current possibilities and strive for future applications”, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Technical Skills
Cell Biology: iPSC derivation & maintenance, cardiac differentiation, 3D cell culture, organoids, cryopreservation
Molecular Biology: RT-qPCR, PCR, Western Blot, immunostaining, ELISA, flow cytometry, NGS
Electrophysiology: Patch clamp, Multi-Electrode Arrays (MEA), cardiotoxicity screening
Data & Analysis: Bioinformatics, image analysis, microscopy, experimental design, scientific writing