Katarzyna Pierzchala

Expertise Brain metabolism, brain redox and antioxidant state in health, aging, and neurodegeneration.Electron Spin Resonance:- Intracellular spin trapping / oxidative stress in-vitro and ex-vivoMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyOptical and fluorescence microscopy:- Histology / Immunohistochemical and biochemical analysis of human and animal-derived tissue SpectrophotometryLaboratory managementBiosafety officer (P1/P2)Radiation Protection Officer B/C Expertise Brain metabolism, brain redox and antioxidant state in health, aging, and neurodegeneration.Electron Spin Resonance:- Intracellular spin trapping / oxidative stress in-vitro and ex-vivoMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyOptical and fluorescence microscopy:- Histology / Immunohistochemical and biochemical analysis of human and animal-derived tissue SpectrophotometryLaboratory managementBiosafety officer (P1/P2)Radiation Protection Officer B/C Katarzyna Pierzchala obtained her BSc degree (2003) and MSc degree (2005) from the Department of Physics, Division of Medical Physics and Division of Nuclear Physics and Its Applications, University of Silesia, Central Clinical Hospital, Medical Academy of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.In 2010 she obtained her PhD degree in physics (biomedical physics) «Oxidative Stress on Human Cells in the Presence of Nano-Sized Titanium Dioxide» at the Institute of Physics of Complex Matter, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. In 2013 she was responsible for clinical research project at Département de l'appareil locomoteur & Spine surgery division / CHUV, managing quantitative MRI and CT-based studies. In 2014, she joined, as a research scientist, the CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging Animal Imaging and Technology and the Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (LIFMET) at EPFL, where she implemented the electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and optical and fluorescence microscopy to study the brain redox and antioxidant state in rodent models of human diseases i.e. hepatic encephalopathy and the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of intact living cancerous cells to characterize their metabolic profile and metastatic potential and observe changes of MRS signals intensity associated to cells metabolism after in-vitro chemotherapy to provide better understanding of the mechanisms of drug-cell interaction, with a view to offer appropriate treatment. Her research focuses on understanding the neurodegenerative disease mechanisms, and in principle the contribution of oxidative stress, using interdisciplinary tools from biophysics, biochemistry, and biology. »She is currently responsible for the neurochemistry laboratory, the cells/tissue culturing laboratory and is the P1/P2 biological safety officer at the CIBM MRI EPFL Animal Imaging and Technology Section. She is involved in implementing new programs, methods, instrumentation, and procedures as well as ensures the regulatory compliance in data documentation.KEYWORDS : Electron Paramagnetic Resonance; Oxidative Stress; In-vivo / in-vitro proton MR Spectroscopy ; Brain metabolites; Neurodegeneration; Immunohistochemistry; Fluorescence Microscopy; Chronic Hepatic Encephalopathy; CancerGoogle Scholar https://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=tvYdMbkAAAAJ&hl=en Education PhD in Physics (biomedical physics) | Institute of Physics of Complex Matter 2006 – 2010 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL) MSc in Medical Physics | Faculty of Physics 2003 – 2005 University of Silesia and at the Medical University of Silesia BSc in Medical Physics | Faculty of Physics 2000 – 2003 University of Silesia and at the Medical University of Silesia Professionals experiences Scientist and manager of neurochemistry and cells culturing laboratory, biosafety officer (P1/P2) 2023–2023 EPFLScientist and manager of neurochemistry and cells culturing laboratory, biosafety officer (P1/P2) 2014–2023 EPFLScientist 2019–2021 CHUVScientist 2013–201 CHUVPost-Doc 2012–2012 UNILResearch Assistant, PhD 2006–2010 EPFLResearch Assistant, PhD 2006–2006 Polish Academy of Sciences