{"id":53,"date":"2021-05-17T12:13:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T10:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/?page_id=53"},"modified":"2026-02-12T19:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:17:09","slug":"team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/team\/","title":{"rendered":"Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

THIS IS US!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Karolina Pircs, PhD – Group Leader, Senior Researcher<\/p>\n

e-mail: pircs.karolina@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: +36 1 459 15 00\/60168<\/span><\/p>\n

mobile: +36 30 016 4788<\/p>\n

Karolina earned her PhD in Biological Sciences at E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd University and continued her research career in Sweden at Lund University, where she began her independent research program with support from the Swedish Research Council. In 2021, she returned to Hungary to establish her lab at Semmelweis University, supported by the HCEMM Junior Starting Grant. Her research focuses on the role of autophagy in aging and neurodegeneration, combining advanced molecular biology, cell reprogramming, and bioinformatics approaches. Karolina co-leads the HUN-REN-SZTAKI-SU Rejuvenation lab and is a committed mentor and educator, passionate about nurturing the next generation of scientists. She is also a mother of two and in her free time enjoys reading and doing puzzles.<\/p>\n

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\u00c1gnes Varga, PhD – Researcher<\/p>\n

e-mail: varga.agnes1@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: +36 1 459-1500\/60369<\/p>\n

mobile: +36 30 016 4787<\/p>\n

\u00c1gi is a Researcher in our lab. She graduated as a biologist, specializing in molecular biology, genetics at E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd Science University. \u00c1gi obtained her PhD in the field of cell biology, focusing on the autophagic degradation system of Drosophila melanogaster. She has experience in a wide variety of molecular biological tools, cell culturing \u00a0and microscopy. She serves as the Head of the FACS, Viral Vector, Cell, and HCA Core Facilities. In this role, she oversees core service operations and order management, and provides strategic scientific support by designing and planning experiments to meet diverse research needs, ranging from cell sorting to stable cell line development. In her free time she likes to hike with her family, practice yoga and sew.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Attila Sz\u0171cs, PhD – Senior Researcher<\/p>\n

e-mail: attila.szucs@ttk.elte.hu<\/p>\n

phone: +36 1 459-1500\/60369<\/p>\n

mobile: +36 20 670 1162<\/p>\n

Attila Sz\u0171cs is a researcher primarily conducting electrophysiological investigations in our lab. He has been studying the functional and integrative properties of a variety of nervous systems and models including primary neuronal cultures, genetically reprogrammed neurons and acute brain slices. Formerly, he studied cooperative dynamics and neuromodulation of motor pattern generating neuronal circuits at the University of California San Diego and addiction-associated functional changes in the stress\/motivational system of the brain at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla. His recent research projects address the functional characterization of single neurons and circuits obtained via genetic reprogramming techniques; forms of homeostatic plasticity in developing neuronal circuits; and computational analysis of human neurons. He has been designing and utilizing cutting edge electrophysiological techniques, optogenetic techniques and computational models. He is also a enthusiastic programmer developing software tools for high-yield data analysis, experiment control and simulations of neuronal dynamics.<\/p>\n

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Kinga V\u00f6r\u00f6s, MSc – PhD student<\/p>\n

e-mail: kinga.voros@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: \u00a0+36 1 459-1500\/60168<\/span><\/p>\n

Kinga is PhD student in our lab. She graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 2018 as a pharmaceutical engineer with a master\u2019s degree. She is especially interested in drug development, due to her focus on helping people. Kinga has experience in working with cancer cells and neuronal cultures. Besides cell culturing, she has a lot of experience in toxicological measurements and gene expression. Her favourite work field is immunostaining, where we can detect the amazing world of cells. Her project focuses on drug repurposing in Huntington\u2019s disease. In her free time, she likes gardening and traveling.<\/p>\n

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Anna Abbas, MSc – KDP-PhD student<\/p>\n

e-mail: abbas.anna@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: \u00a0+36 1 459-1500\/60369<\/p>\n

Anna is a PhD student in our laboratory. She graduated from BME (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) in 2021 as a bioengineer with a masters degree. Anna has experience in working with adenoviruses and she is also skilled in virus diagnostics. Anna is interested in virus vector related genetic modification. Her research focuses on establishing and testing a new drug screening strategy for age-related cognitive disorders using induced neurons directly reprogrammed from patient\u2019s fibroblasts and to study how neuronal autophagy declines during physiological healthy ageing. Her future goal is to use gene therapy in an effort to treat or halt diseases. Her hobbies are painting and hiking in the nature.<\/p>\n

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Bal\u00e1zs Kis, MSc – KDP-PhD student<\/p>\n

e-mail: kis.balazs@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: \u00a0+36 1 459-1500\/60369<\/p>\n

Bal\u00e1zs is a PhD student in our laboratory. He graduated as a bioengineer and later chose Info-bionics engineering for his MSc degree. Bal\u00e1zs studied a wide range of subjects from neurobiology to spin wave based computing during his studies. He has experience in cell culturing, magnetic simulations and with analytical chemistry. His current project focuses on the pathophysiological effects of age-related neurodegenerative diseases in induced neurons on autophagy and his goal is to provide a solid foundation to novel treatment strategies concerning these diseases.<\/p>\n

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Melinda E. Gazdik, MSc – PhD student<\/p>\n

e-mail: gazdik.melinda.erika@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

Melinda is a PhD student in the lab. She graduated from E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd University. During her BSc, she studied general Biology and after that, she specialized in Neurobiology and Human Biology during her MSc. Melinda continued her studies at the ELTE Doctoral School of Biology, where she is working on the functional characterization of genetically modified human neurons with electrophysiological techniques. She has experience in whole-cell patch clamp measurements on acute brain slices and also on different cell cultures.<\/p>\n

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Roland Zsoldos, MSc – PhD student<\/p>\n

e-mail: zsoldos.roland@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: \u00a0+36 1 459-1500\/60369<\/p>\n

Roland\u00a0 finished his MSc as a biologist at ELTE and continued his journey as a PhD student in our lab. He specialized in molecular biology. He is specifically interested in the molecular aspects of neurobiology and age-related diseases. His project focuses on neuronal autophagy during physiological ageing using multiomics, live cell imaging and CRISPRi gene editing in induced neurons. In his free time, he likes to cycle and to play video games.<\/p>\n

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Vivien Pill\u00e1r, MSc – PhD student<\/p>\n

e-mail: pillar.vivien.szandra@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: \u00a0+36 1 459-1500\/60369<\/p>\n

Vivien graduated from E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Biology, specializing in Neuroscience and Human Biology. Early on, she knew she wanted to understand how the brain works. To pursue this passion, she joined a research group and spent six years conducting mouse experiments. Over time, her interest shifted increasingly towards the humanities, leading her to join our group, where she found the opportunity to explore this new direction and started to focus on neuronal rejuvenation. In her free time, she enjoys baking, cooking, crafting, and spending time with her family.<\/p>\n

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Zs\u00f3fia Koltai, BSc – MSc student<\/p>\n

Zs\u00f3fi is an MSc student in our laboratory. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from SZTE and is now continuing her studies at ELTE. During her BSc, she investigated how physical activity influences brain health using a mouse model, which sparked her keen interest in neurobiology and neurodegenerative diseases. Her current research focuses on age-related impairments in autophagy. In her free time, Zs\u00f3fi enjoys swimming, walking, reading, painting, and playing board games.<\/p>\n

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Bendeg\u00faz Sramk\u00f3 – Medical student<\/p>\n

e-mail: sramko.bendeguz@stud.semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

Bendeg\u00faz is a medical student at Semmelweis University. He was awarded with a 6-year Scholarship from NTA (National Academy of Scientists Education), which provides him with an opportunity to do research during his studies as a medical doctor. His project focuses on direct neuronal reprogramming using dental pulp cells. In the future, Bendeg\u00faz would like to be a medical doctor with special interest in pulmonology. His hobbies are canoeing and making ethnographical trips.<\/p>\n

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Zs\u00f3fia M\u00e1rta Mez\u0151 – Pharmacology student<\/p>\n

e-mail: mezo.zsofia@stud.semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

With a strong interest in understanding the human body – especially the brain – Zs\u00f3fi joined the lab to contribute to research with translational impact. She is a pharmacology student currently focusing on drug repurposing strategies for Huntington\u2019s disease, with the long-term goal of expanding this work to other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Although she has always been motivated to help people, she finds her greatest fulfilment through lab-based research.<\/p>\n

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P\u00e1lma Zsolnai – Research assistant<\/p>\n

e-mail: zsolnai.palma@semmelweis.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone: \u00a0+36 1 459-1500\/60369<\/p>\n

mobile: +36 30 016-4491<\/p>\n

P\u00e1lma is a research assistant in our team. She graduated as a biologist, specializing in microbiology and received her Master’s degree from ELTE in 2015.\u00a0 P\u00e1lma is performing a wide variety of duties to help the lab running, and also ensures all errands connected to the new Viral Vector Core facility.\u00a0 In her free time she likes to hike and play board games.<\/p>\n

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Alumni:<\/p>\n

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Li Chang – TEA\u2011NET Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow<\/p>\n

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Ali Dadawalla \u2013 Fulbright visiting research student<\/p>\n

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Lea Danics, PharmD, PhD – Researcher<\/p>\n

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Mateusz Skawski, MS – assistant research fellow<\/p>\n

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Dorina Jamniczky \u2013 Master student<\/p>\n

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Kinga S\u00e1ndor-Bajusz, PhD, MD – Guest researcher<\/p>\n

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\u00c1rmin S\u0151th, MSc – Assistant research fellow<\/p>\n

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Manka – Lab dog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THIS IS US!       Karolina Pircs, PhD – Group Leader, Senior Researcher e-mail: pircs.karolina@semmelweis.hu<\/a> phone: +36 1 459 15 00\/60168 mobile: +36 30 016 4788 Karolina earned her PhD in Biological Sciences at E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd University and continued her research career in Sweden at Lund University, where she began her independent research program with …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101875,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1710,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53\/revisions\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/hcemm-neurobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}