CIBM | Center for Biomedical Imaging

MRI EPFL Animal Imaging and Technology Section

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; Cancer