Our Teams @ Aarhus University and the EMBL-Australia Node for Single Molecule Science (UNSW)
Felicity Davis, PhD.
Group Leader
Felicity completed her PhD at The University of Queensland (Australia) in 2012. After performing postdoctoral research in the fields of calcium signalling in Jim Putney’s lab (NIH-NIEHS, USA) and stem cell biology in Christine Watson’s lab (University of Cambridge, UK), Felicity returned to Australia in 2017 to start her own research group in 2018 as an NHMRC Fellow. Felicity now leads a group at the EMBL-Australia Node in Single Molecule Science and a team at Aarhus University in Denmark, funded by a Novo Nordisk Foundation Young Investigator Award. Her two groups use advanced imaging and novel mouse models to explore roles for intracellular calcium signalling in mammary gland development, function and disease.
E: felicity@biomed.au.dk
Aarhus Team
Silke Chalmers, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow @ AU.
Silke completed her PhD studies at the University of Queensland (Australia) in 2022. Her research focused on identifying novel communication pathways in the interplay between breast cancer and the metastatic microenvironment of the brain. She commenced work as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Aarhus Davis Lab in 2022, where she will investigate calcium signalling pathways in the mammary gland.
Email: silke@biomed.au.dk
Mathilde Folacci, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow @ AU.
Mathilde completed her PhD studies at the University Grenoble Alpes (France) in 2022. She studied physiopathological functions of potassium ion channels using optogenetic pharmacology and electrophysiology.
Mathilde started a Postdoctoral fellow in the Davis lab in Aarhus in June 2022, where she will use optogenetics to explore calcium signalling in the mammary gland.
Email: mfolacci@biomed.au.dk
Laura Bjerre Andersen.
PhD Student @ AU.
Laura completed her master’s degree in Murine Development at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, AU in 2019. Here, she investigated transgene mouse embryos before the obvious onset of a lethal phenotype. After completing her master’s thesis, she was briefly affiliated with research in extracellular vesicles as a therapeutic tool for stroke. In April 2022, she joined the Davis Lab in Aarhus as a Research Assistant before transitioning to PhD student. Here she is exploring roles for calcium signalling in luminal mammary epithelial cells.
Email: lba@biomed.au.dk
Trine Lund Ruus.
Laboratory Technologist @ AU.
Trine graduated as a Chemical and Biotechnical Analyst at Aarhus Laboratory School in 2007. She has since worked as a Laboratory Technician at Lundbeck, AU and the Biotest Facility in Aarhus. In the DavisLab at AU, Trine is responsible for colony management, ordering, Danish language translation and is our all-round problem solver!
Email: tlr@biomed.au.dk
Sydney Team
Krystyna Gieniec, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow @ EMBL-Australia at UNSW.
Krystyna completed her PhD studies at the University of Adelaide (Australia) in 2021. Her research investigated specific subsets of colorectal cancer-associated fibroblasts; how they promote colorectal cancer, and if they can be therapeutically targeted to improve murine survival. In March 2021, she relocated to Sydney and joined the Davis lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Krystyna explores epithelial-stromal crosstalk in the mammary gland and breast cancer.
Email: k.gieniec@unsw.edu.au
Twitter: @KrystynaGieniec
Valentina Rodriguez Paris, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow @ UNSW Sydney.
Valentina completed her PhD studies and first postdoc at the University of New South Wales Sydney (Australia) in 2020. Her PhD research and first Postdoctoral position focussed on the development of novel non-invasive treatments for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) through dietary interventions as well as pharmacological interventions for PCOS, and the role of androgens in the development of PCOS. She joined the Davis Lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2022, where she will investigate roles for intracellular calcium signalling in adult stem cell biology, with a particular focus on the mammary gland and mammalian reproduction.
Email: v.rodriguezparis@unsw.edu.au
Twitter: @valentinarp979
Lab Alumni
Emma Paydari.
Student.
Emma joins the lab in 2022 as an Empirical Bachelor Student exploring calcium-mediated signal transduction. She is also about to start her 5th semester as a Medical Student at AU.
Anie Kurumlian.
Former Research Assistant
Anie studied Medical Science at UNSW and completed her Honours with A/Prof Kate Poole at UNSW in 2018. Anie has since worked as a Research Assistant for groups at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and EMBL-Australia Node in Single Molecule Science. Anie joined the Davis Lab in Sydney as a Research Assistant.
Anie is now studying Medicine at The University of Notre Dame Australia
Teneale Stewart, PhD.
Former Postdoctoral Fellow
Teneale obtained her PhD in cancer biology and pharmacology in 2016 from The University of Queensland, Australia. She subsequently conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, United States, where she investigated the regulation of endogenous DNA mutagens in breast cancer cells. Dr Stewart’s postdoctoral research sought to better understand developmental processes in the mammary gland, with a particular focus on the role of calcium signalling pathways.
Teneale is now a CRA at Novotech, Brisbane.
Alex Stevenson.
Former Research Assistant
Alex completed a Bachelor of Science (Hons) at the University of Queensland in 2012. He worked as a Research Assistant at UQ’s Diamantina Institute before joining the Davis lab as a Senior Research Assistant from 2018-2020.
Alex now works for the Australian Government in Canberra.
Former Students
Negar Zargarbalajam (Empirical Bachelor Student, 2022)
Stephanie Samios (Honours Student, 2019)
Samantha Leatham (Honours Student, 2019)
Sneha Nair (Masters Student, 2018)
Pei Wen Ho (Honours Student, 2018)