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Postdoctoral

Team Profiles

Aamir Hameed

Aamir Hameed

Postdoctoral Researcher

Aamir received M.B., B.S degree from the University of Karachi, Pakistan after which he completed his basic surgical training from the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. He was recently awarded his MD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. His thesis focused on advanced drug delivery strategies to promote stem cell survival following delivery to the infarcted heart. At CÚRAM, Aamir is working with Dr Faisal Sharif, on novel device-based solutions for the treatment of acute heart failure.

Adam Raymakers

Adam Raymakers

Postdoctoral Researcher

Adam received a BSc (Economics) from Dalhousie University (Halifax, Canada), MSc in Health Economics, Policy, and Law from Erasmus Univeristy (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and carried out research in the area of Health Economics and Pharmaco-Epidemiology at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) for his PhD studies. At CÚRAM, he is working with Prof. Matt Griffin, Dr Paddy Gillespie and Prof. Ciaran O'Neill to develop a framework for the economic evaluation of emerging medical devices.

Aidan Fagan-Murphy

Aidan Fagan-Murphy

Postdoctoral Researcher

Aidan's PhD research focused into the investigation of novel electroactive polyoxometalate-based solid-state materials and his postdoctoral work centred on bio-compatible electroactive materials for medical devices. His current work in the RCSI is on the pulmonary drug delivery for the treatment of tuberculosis. Research interests: Electroactive materials, Bio-sensors, Bio-compatible materials, Respiratory drug delivery

Alice McCloskey

Alice McCloskey

Postdoctoral Researcher

Alice completed both an MPharm and PhD at the School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast. Her PhD focused on ultrashort self-assembling peptide nanomaterials for biomedical application.In CÚRAM, Alice is working on an industry-based project investigating integrated vibrating-mesh drug delivery for respiratory diseases using nebulisers under the direction of Prof. Sally-Ann Cryan.

Amy Burke

Amy Burke

Postdoctoral Researcher

Amy obtained her BSc and PhD from NUI Galway. Her PhD investigated the role of nitric oxide in the initiation and development of prostate cancer. Amy's current research interests include the use of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells (MSCs) as a cell therapy for osteoarthritis (OA). Under the supervision of Dr Mary Murphy, she is investigating the cellular mechanisms underpinning immune modulation and protection or regeneration of OA tissue by MSCs.

Anup Poudel

Anup Poudel

Postdoctoral Researcher

Anup holds an MSc in Innovative Technology Engineering and PhD from Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland of which his PhD thesis centred on the development of dielectric nano-composites materials for energy harvesting and sensing applications. He is currently working in the field of 3D printing/micro processing of electrically active material under the supervision of Dr Manus Biggs.

Arun Thirumaran

Arun Thirumaran

Postdoctoral Researcher

Arun obtained his PhD from NUI Galway. His research was in genetically modifying mesenchymal stem cells for targeted therapy in critical limb ischemia. He has a Masters and M.Phil degree in Biotechnology from Bharathiyar University, India. Arun’s research areas are in the use of stem cells and biomaterials for cardiovascular and orthopaedic regeneration.In CÚRAM, Arun is working under the supervision of Dr Manus Biggs.

Catalina Vallejo

Catalina Vallejo

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Catalina received her BS in BME from the EIA/CES, Colombia. After this, she got her MS in BME at Mayo Clinic, USA. Catalina’s PhD research was on the physicochemical and biological functionalization strategies of neuroelectrodes. Her research interests are on the area of biomaterials with applications for tissue engineering, nerve regeneration, neural interfaces and neuromodulation. At CÚRAM, Catalina is working on topographical modification of anodized ITO electrodes for neuro-glial adhesion modulation.

Diana Gaspar

Diana Gaspar

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Diana received a MSc in Bioengineering, University of Porto, Portugal. Her research interest is tendon repair. She is working under the supervision of Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis in the REMODEL group.

Drahomir Chovan

Drahomir Chovan

Postdoctoral Researcher

Drahomir graduated with a PhD from the University of Limerick in 2014.His main research activities lie in solid state and computational physics and the prediction of structure and properties from theoretical models.Within CÚRAM he is working on an industry project with under the supervision of Dr Tofail Syed.

Isma Liza Mohd Isa

Isma Liza Mohd Isa

Postdoctoral Researcher

Isma received BMed Sc (Hons) from National University of Malaysia and PhD from National University of Ireland, Galway. During her doctoral research, she has focused on biomaterial-based therapy using hyaluronic acid hydrogel system to alleviate inflammatory pain as well as to promote disc repair. She has also developed an inflammation and a pre-clinical model of pain associated with disc degeneration. Currently, she is working on disc degeneration project under Prof Abhay Pandit.

Jill McMahon

Jill McMahon

Senior Researcher

Jill received a BSc in Biochemistry (honours), MPhil in Neuropathology, Queens University Belfast and a PhD in Gene Therapy, Imperial College London. Her research interests include: neurological disorders, skeletal muscle disorders, Multiple Sclerosis, gene and cell therapy, biomarkers and neuroscience. She is working under the supervision of Dr Una Fitzgerald.

Joana Cabral

Joana Cabral

Postdoctoral Researcher

Joana obtained a BSc and MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Porto and a PhD from NUI Galway. Her PhD focused on investigating the role of glycosylation for T-reg biology. Her research interests include immunology, oncology, glycobiology, extracellular vesicles and flow cytometry. In CÚRAM, Joana will apply her expertise to study extracellular vesicles from breast cancer cells and develop imaging cytometry protocols for multidisciplinary applications under the mentorship of Professor Rhodri Ceredig.

Judith Evers

Judith Evers

Postdoctoral Researcher

Judith Evers’ studied veterinary medicine in Leipzig, Germany. After graduating, Judith worked with in a large equine hospital in Kildare, Ireland. She then completed a PhD on the mechanism of action of sacral neuromodulation in a rodent model under Prof James Jones at UCD. Judith has continued her research in neuromodulation in animal models. In CÚRAM, she works on the electrode-tissue interface of chronically implanted electrodes in deep brain stimulation under Prof Madeleine Lowery.

Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev

Postdoctoral Researcher

Kapil completed an M.Sc. in Biotechnology with specialization in Molecular Biology and then followed by Doctor in Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biotechnology/Stem Cell Biology, Kurukhstera University, India.His research expertise is in the fields of regenerative medicine/cellular reprogramming, generating induced pluripotent stem cells using patient biopsy samples to develop primary models for various neurodegenerative disorders. Kapil is working on a CÚRAM industry project with Dr Leo Quinlan.

Karrina McNamara

Karrina McNamara

Postdoctoral Researcher

Karrina received her B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical and Industrial Chemistry in 2009 and graduated with a PhD in Surface and Interfacial Analysis in 2014, both from the University of Limerick. Her research interests include surface and interface characterisation, biomedical materials and devices and nano-biomaterials for biomedical applications. Within CÚRAM she is working under the supervision of Dr Tofail Syed.

Katarzyna Krukiewicz

Katarzyna Krukiewicz

Postdoctoral Researcher

Katarzyna obtained her PhD in Chemistry in the Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Silesian University of Technology, Poland. In CÚRAM, she is working under the supervision of Dr Manus Biggs. Her research interests include: electrochemistry, conducting polymers, drug delivery systems and surface modification methods.

Mihai Lomora

Mihai Lomora

Postdoctoral Researcher

Mihai received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Basel, Switzerland. His research has focused on the design and development of bio-hybrid polymer membranes as tools for mimicking cell compartments. He was awarded an Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to expand his expertise at CÚRAM in the self-assembly of polymer based structures and their combination with stem cells for the treatment of ischemic diseases, under the guidance of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Nazar Farid

Nazar Farid

Postdoctoral Researcher

Nazar received his PhD from Dalian University of Technology, China in laser-matter interaction and spectroscopy. He is currently working under the supervision of Dr Manus on the development of synergistic 2-photon lithography and femtosecond laser approaches to microelectrode fabrication. Before joining CÚRAM, Nazar was a Marie Curie Fellow at NCLA, NUI Galway. His current research interests include laser additive & 3D manufacturing, laser nanostructuring, and lithography.

Neil O'Leary

Neil O'Leary

Postdoctoral Researcher

Neil received a PhD in Optics and Vision Science, City University London, and an MSc in Biostatistics,University of Manchester.He has worked in a wide range of research areas including clinical trials, clinical studies, and in epidemiology.In CÚRAM,he is working under the supervision of Prof. Martin O'Donnell and Dr John Newell on improving the statistical methodology for evaluations of implantable medical devices.

Peadar Rooney

Peadar Rooney

Postdoctoral Researcher

Peadar is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Renza Spelat

Renza Spelat

Postdoctoral Researcher

Renza received a BSc in Laboratory Technics, MSc in Medical Biotechnology and a PhD in Clinical and Technological Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy. Her research interests include: biomaterials, stem cells and tissue regeneration. She is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Reyhaneh N. Shirazi

Reyhaneh N. Shirazi

Postdoctoral Researcher

Reyhaneh received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from NUI, Galway on the mechanical performance of biodegradable polymers for medical implant applications.She is currently working in CÚRAM on an industry project under the supervision of Prof. Peter McHugh.This project involves exploring the mechanical performance of biocompatible metal alloys through experimental testing and advanced computational modelling techniques with the view to enhancing the mechanical performance for medical device applications.

Sajjad Soleimani Amiri

Sajjad Soleimani Amiri

R&D Research Engineer / Postdoctoral Researcher

Sajjad obtained his PhD from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. His dissertation focused on new designs for aspiration catheters used in thrombectomy, taking into account thrombus visco-elasticity and mechanical rigidity. His research interests concern the employment of biomaterial mechanical characteristics in novel medical device. He is currently working in CÚRAM under the supervision of Dr. Faisal Sharif, on novel device-based solutions for trans-septal crossing for mitral valve interventions.

Sarinj Fattah

Sarinj Fattah

Postdoctoral Researcher

Sarinj received her B.Sc. in Pharmacy from Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq and a postgraduate degree and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Leuven, Belgium. Her area of research interest includes: oral drug delivery, intestinal permeability, enterohepatic drug clearance (metabolism and drug transporters) and ontogeny kinetic mechanisms/paediatric drug disposition. Within CÚRAM, she is working on the Marie Curie Actions COFUND Programme, under the supervision of Prof. David Brayden.

Seán Fitzgerald

Seán Fitzgerald

Postdoctoral Researcher

Seán completed his PhD in Biotechnology at Dublin City University, working in the area of colorectal cancer. Seán previously obtained an MSc in Neuropharmacology and a BSc in Physiology from NUI Galway. Under the supervision of Dr Karen Doyle, Seán aims to develop novel characterisation methods for thrombi.

Shane Browne

Shane Browne

Postdoctoral Researcher

Shane received a BSc in Biomedical Engineering (Honours) and a PhD in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway. His research interests include: modulation of the foreign body response to biomaterials, microsphere delivery systems, extracellular matrix-based biomaterials, angiogenesis and critical limb ischemia. He is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Siti Ismail

Siti Ismail

Postdoctoral Researcher

Siti obtained a veterinary degree, doctor of veterinary medicine, and master of veterinary science from Universiti Putra Malaysia. She received her PhD from Imperial College London (UK) in stem cells bioprocessing. Siti has had post-doctoral fellowships in DCU, RCSI, and REMEDI in NUIG. At CÚRAM, Siti researches self-assembling peptide technology for hemostasis and wound healing applications under Prof Abhay Pandit. Her current work is focused on in vitro optimization and in vivo studies.

Stephen Cunningham

Stephen Cunningham

Postdoctoral Researcher

Stephen joined NUI Galway in 2007 as a postdoctoral researcher within the National Diagnostics Center, and joined the Glycoscience Group in 2009. Building upon expertise in genetics, molecular biology and nanotechnology Stephen now focuses on incorporating recognition molecule profiling and generation (primarily against glycans), biomarker discovery/validation, molecular engineering and enzymology. Stephen’s work is carried out as part of the Glycoscience Group of Prof. Lokesh Joshi under the CÚRAM banner.

Vijay Krishna

Vijay Krishna

Postdoctoral Researcher

Vijay is working under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.

Yi-Shiang Huang

Yi-Shiang Huang

Postdoctoral Researcher

Yi-Shiang Huang obtained his PhD from the University of Bordeaux,France and the University of Liege, Belgium. His PhD research was focused on developing peptide-based surface functionalization methods on intraocular lens to prevent secondary cataract formation. Within CÚRAM he is working on an industry project focusing on self-assembly peptides for hemostasis under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit.