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Staff Profile

Dr Katarzyna Pirog

Senior Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Genetics

  • Telephone: +44(0) 191 241 8622
  • Personal Website: https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/piroglab
  • Address: Biosciences Institute
    Newcastle University
    International Centre for Life
    Central Parkway
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 3BZ
Background

I am a member of the Biosciences Institute and work across a number of research themes:


I am also part of the Rare Disease NUCore and the Biomedical Engineering NUCore


Roles & responsibilities

Current

  • Senior Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Genetics
  • Module Leader: BGM3062 Genetics of Development and its Disorders
  • Member of the BGM Curriculum Committee
  • Member of the Newcastle University Public Lectures Committee
  • Member of the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB)
  • Member of the CBC Policy and Resources Committee
  • Member of the Biology of Ageing Special interest Group (SIG) Steering Committee
  • Member of the Organising Committee and Chair of the Bursaries Committee of the British Society for Matrix Biology (BSMB) https://bsmb.ac.uk/
  • Work Package Lead and Public Engagement Lead for the MSCA CHANGE project https://www.change-msca.eu/
  • Editorial Board Member for Matrix Biology and Matrix Biology Plus (Elsevier) https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/matrix-biology/about/editorial-board


Past

  • Work package Lead and Public Engagement and Dissemination coordinator, EU-FP7 SYBIL project http://www.sybil-fp7.eu/
  • Chair of the IGM Public Engagement Committee https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/igmengagement/
  • Module Leader: BGM2057 Medical genomics: from DNA to disease
  • Deputy Module Leader: BGM2057 Medical genomics: from DNA to disease
  • Deputy Module Leader: GNM8000/1 Introduction to Human Genetics and Genomics
  • Public Engagement Lead for the Reproduction, Development and Child Health research theme


Areas of expertise

  • Bone development
  • Cartilage biology
  • Skeletal dysplasia
  • Musculoskeletal ageing
  • Tissue engineering


Qualifications:

  • Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • PhD: Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Matrix Research, Manchester University, UK
  • MSc (Hons): Institute of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland (5 year integrated BSc and MSc course)


Google scholar: Click here

SCOPUS: Click here.

ORCID: Click here.

Research

Research interests:

Cartilage biomechanics. mechanosensing and musculoskeletal complications of chondrodysplasias and osteoarthritis/ageing


During my PhD project and the subsequent PostDoc career I have developed and analysed several transgenic models of chondrodysplasias. I have studied several intracellular stress pathways (ER stress, oxidative stress, inflammation) involved in chondrodysplasias. I am also interested in soft tissue complications associated with skeletal diseases and I was the first to show that the myopathy associated with COMP mutations in PSACH results from an underlying tendinopathy and presented a novel study describing these complications in detail. I’m currently expanding these studies in cellular and animal models to gain more understanding of pathobiology of chondrodysplasias and ageing.


I’m specifically interested in the abnormalities in the extracellular matrix ultrastructure associated with chondrodysplasias and ageing. I’d like to know how the cells sense and react to such changes, explore the cross-talk between the intracellular stress pathways and understand how these in turn impact on the biomechanical properties of tissues. I’m also interested in musculoskeletal complications, such as myopathy and/or tendinopathy, trying to perceive the knee joint as a system of various interconnected tissues and through this approach gain a broader understanding of musculoskeletal conditions and their complications.


Funding:

Dunhill Medical Trust, EU H2020, Horizon Europe, JGW Patterson Foundation, MRC, NC3Rs


Teaching

Lecturer:

Current

  • BGM3062 (Stage 3) Genetics of development and its disorders (Module Leader, Lecturer, and Seminar Lead)
  • BGM2057 (Stage 2) Medical genomics: from DNA to disease (Deputy Module Leader, Lecturer, and Seminar Lead)
  • MMB8031 (MRes) Developmental Genetics (Lecturer)
  • MEC8023 (MRes) Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (Lecturer)
  • UG and PG Project Supervisor (Stage 3, MSci, MRes, PhD)


Past

  • BGM2057 Medical genomics: from DNA to disease (Module Leader and Lecturer)
  • GNM8000 Introduction to Human Genetics and Genomics (Deputy Module Leader and Lecturer)
  • GNM8001 Introduction to Human Genetics and Genomics (Deputy Module Leader and Lecturer)


 

Publications