Vanja Nagy, PhD
Principal Investigator
Vanja Nagy obtained her PhD at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (MSSM), USA and received postdoctoral training in the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences (MedILS), Croatia, and Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, (IMBA), Austria. During her PhD, she studied basic molecular neuroscience and described a novel role for extracellular proteolysis supporting structural and functional synaptic remodelling underlining learning and memory.
During her postdoctoral fellowships she focused on preclinical phenotyping of mouse models and molecular pathophysiology of genetic disorders affecting basic functions of the nervous system. In 2016, she co-authored a successful application for the establishment of the first institute dedicated to the study of rare and undiagnosed diseases in Austria, The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD).
There, she established her independent research group focusing on rare neurodevelopmental disorders. At this time, she was also appointed as Adjunct PI at CeMM Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Her group is located at the Neurology Department of the Medical University of Vienna (MUW).
The Team
Swaroop
Achuta, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow
Swaroop Achuta joined the team in November 2020 as a postdoctoral fellow. He received his doctoral degree in 2018 at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His Ph.D. studies mainly focused on unveiling molecular mechanisms involved in the altered differentiation of neural progenitors derived from individuals with Fragile X Syndrome. Later he continued his research on understanding autism pathophysiology using human ES/iPS cells-derived neurons at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. He is specialized in working with human embryonic and pluripotent stem cell maintenance, differentiation, and functional characterization. He is currently developing novel stem cell technologies to model neurodevelopmental disorders, focusing on Rett Syndrome.
Victoria Kartysh, MSc
Predoctoral fellow
Victoria joined the lab as a PhD student in August 2020. She completed her undergraduate studies (BSc Biomedical Sciences) and received her Master’s degree (MRes Neuroscience) at Newcastle University in 2018. During her studies, she did an internship at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality (Newcastle General Hospital) working on pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. In 2019, Victoria continued her studies at the University of Zurich as part of the life science graduate programme with a focus on drug screening in hematologic malignancies. Her PhD project involves combination of network-based strategies and CRISPR-based screening methods to discover common pathways and novel therapeutic targets in rare neurodevelopmental disorders. Her work is supported by an OeAW DOC fellowship.
Tomislav Kokotovic
M.D.
Predoctoral fellow
Dr. Tomislav Kokotović is a predoctoral fellow in the Nagy Lab since 2016. He received his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) in 2012 from University of Zagreb and license to practice medicine from the Croatian Medical Chamber in 2013. His interests lie in bed-to-benchside medicine of rare pediatric neurological disorders, focusing on rare disorders of nociception, as well as identifying novel intellectual disability associated genes. His work is supported by an OeAW DOC fellowship.
Alumni
Christopher Fell, PhD | PhD student | 2017-2022
Sophie Imhof, MSc| PhD student | 2020-2022
Maria Alejandra Silva Sifuentes, MSc | Technical Assistant | 2022-2022
Angelica Scaramuzza, MSc | Technical Assistant| 2020-2022
Haluk Caliskan | Medical diploma student | 2021-2022
Fiona Freyberger, BSc | Technical Assistant, Rotational student | 2020-2021
Ewelina Lenartowicz, MSc | Lab Manager | 2016-2020
Mathilde Meyenberg, BSc | Rotational student | 2019
Thomas Ackerbauer, MSc | Intern | 2019
Florian Walter, MSc | Intern | 2020
Chrysanthi Kagiou, MSc | Rotational student | 2020
Elham Alehabib, MSc | Visiting Scientist | 2020