EDUCATION

2008 — 2014              PhD, Molecular and Cellular Biology

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

 

2006 — 2008              MSc, Biochemistry

George Washington University, Washington, DC

 

2004 — 2005              Undergraduate Exchange Student

Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

 

2002 — 2006              Bachelor of Science (Honours)

York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

University of Maryland College Park, 02/2018-Present

Postdoctoral fellow, Animal and Avian Sciences Department

Advisor: Byung-Eun Kim, PhD

Projects:

• Studying the role of Cu in adipose tissue
• Effect on Cu ionophores on C. elegans growth and reproduction

 

University of British Columbia, 07/2015-09/2016

Postdoctoral fellow, Biochemistry Department

Advisor: Robert Molday, PhD

Projects:

• Studying the role of lipid and retinoid transporters in inherited retinal degenerative diseases
• Currently building tissue culture models for studying ABCA4-mediated retinal transport
• Aim is to perform high-throughput screen for compounds that activate mutant forms of ABCA4, which are associated with Stargardt macular degeneration

 

University of Maryland College Park, 09/2008 — 06/2014

PhD candidate, Molecular and Cellular Biology Program

Advisor: Iqbal Hamza, PhD

Dissertation projects:

• The Role of the ABC transporter, MRP5/ABCC5, in C. elegans heme homeostasis
•  Analysis of heme transport capability by MRP5/ABCC5 protein from multiple species
• Analysis of role of MRP5/ABCC5 in mammals using knockout mice and mammalian tissue culture models

George Washington University, 09/2006 — 08/2008

MSc candidate, Biochemistry Program

Advisor: Ajit Kumar, PhD

Project: Role of miRNA-mediated repression of the DLC1 tumor suppressor in Hepatitis C-associated pathologies

 

York University, 09/2005 — 07/2006

Undergraduate honours research student, Biology Program

Advisor: John C. McDermott, PhD

Project: Role of p38γ kinase signaling in skeletal muscle differentiation

 

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Chun H, Korolnek T, Lee CJ, Coyne HJ 3rd, Winge DR, Kim BE, Petris MJ. An extracellular histidine-containing motif in the zinc transporter ZIP4 plays a role in zinc sensing and zinc-induced endocytosis in mammalian cells. J Biol Chem. 2019 Feb 22;294(8):2815-2826. PMID: 30593504

Staroń R, Lipiński P, Lenartowicz M, Bednarz A, Gajowiak A, Smuda E, Krzeptowski W, Pieszka M, Korolnek T, Hamza I, Swinkels DW, Van Swelm RPL, Starzyński RR. Dietary hemoglobin rescues young piglets from severe iron deficiency anemia: Duodenal expression profile of genes involved in heme iron absorption. PLoS One. 2017 Jul 13;12(7):e0181117. PMID: 28704474

Korolnek T, Hamza I. Macrophages and iron trafficking at the birth and death of red cells. Blood. 2015 May 7; 125(19): 2893-7. Review. PubMed ID: 25778532.

Korolnek T, Hamza I. Like iron in the blood of the people: the requirement for heme trafficking in iron metabolism. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2014 Jun 4; 5:126. Review. PubMed ID: 24926267.

Korolnek T, Zhang J, Beardsley S, Scheffer GL, Hamza I. Control of metazoan heme homeostasis by a conserved multidrug resistance protein. Cell Metabolism. 2014 Jun 3; 19(6): 1008-19. PubMed ID: 24836561.

Banaudha K, Kaliszewski M, Korolnek T, Florea L, Yeung ML, Jeang KT, Kumar A. MicroRNA silencing of tumor suppressor DLC-1 promotes efficient hepatitis C virus replication in primary human hepatocytes. Hepatology. 2011 Jan; 53(1): 53-61. PubMed ID: 20967756.

Banaudha K, Orenstein JM, Korolnek T, St Laurent GC 3rd, Wakita T, Kumar A. Primary hepatocyte culture supports hepatitis C virus replication: a model for infection-associated hepatocarcinogenesis. Hepatology. 2010 Jun; 51(6): 1922-32. PubMed PMID: 20512986.

CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS

Korolnek T, Zhang J, Scheffer GL, Hamza I (2014) A conserved function for MRP5 in coordinating systemic heme homeostasis. Presented at the FASEB Meeting on Trace Elements in Biology and Medicine (Steamboat, Colorado, USA).

Korolnek T, Hamza I (2013) An ABC transporter regulates systemic heme homeostasis in C. elegans. Presented at the International Worm Meeting (Los Angeles, California, USA).

Korolnek T, White C, Zhang J, Scheffer GL, Hamza I (2012) Control of metazoan heme homeostasis by a conserved ABC transporter-dependent efflux pathway. Presented at the Gordon Research Conference on the Chemistry and Biology of Tetrapyrroles (Newport, Rhode Island, USA).

Korolnek, T, Hamza, I (2011) HRG-9 regulates systemic heme homeostasis in C. elegans. Presented at the International Worm Meeting (Los Angeles, Californa, USA).

AWARDS AND HONOURS

• Poster Award, FASEB Conference on Trace Elements in Biology and Medicine Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA (June 2014)
• Graduate Student Talk Award, Molecular and Cellular Biology Symposium, University of Maryland, College Park, USA (August 2013)
• Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, Center for Teaching Excellence University of Maryland, College Park, USA (May 2010)
• Full scholarship for semester abroad, Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (2004-2005)
• Dean’s List, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2004)
• Entrance Scholarship, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2002)

TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE

Writing/Editing:

Experience editing multiple grants (including 2 NIH R01 grants), peer-reviewing multiple journal articles, writing two literature reviews, and publishing a first-author research paper

Molecular biology:

Western blotting, qPCR, genomic DNA isolation, genotyping, restriction enzyme and Gateway cloning, immunohistochemistry

Biochemistry:

Biochemical activity assays

Model organisms:

Yeast maintenance, C. elegans transgenics, maintenance, and crosses, mouse maintenance and crosses, mammalian cell transformation and in vitro culture

Microscopy:

Bright field, fluorescence, confocal, TIRF, and deconvolution

Data analysis:

Excel, GraphPad

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Guest lecturer

Animal Sciences Department, University of Maryland College Park, March 4, 2014

“Heme Biology and Diseases”

Guest lecture in “Nutritional Aspects of Metabolic Diseases” course

 

Graduate teaching assistant

Biology Department, University of Maryland College Park, 2008 — 2010

Courses taught:

BSCI 105 Principles of Biology I Fall 2008, Spring/Fall 2009

BSCI 330 Cell Biology and Physiology Spring 2010

SCIENCE OUTREACH

“Genome Geek”, Genomes: Unlocking Life’s Code

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, June 2014

As a resident “geek”, I spoke to high school students from the Georgetown Summer Medical Institute program about the chemistry and biology of DNA and genomes, as well as discussing my own research and what life as a scientist is like.

MEMBERSHIPS AND EVENT PARTICIPATION

Executive Board Member                     UBC Postdoctoral Association (PDA), 2015-2016

Attendee                                            NIDDK Mini-Symposium “The Role of                                                                              Macrophages in Blood Cell Development”,                                                                        February 2015

Member                                             Baltimore-Washington C. elegans Club, 2009-                                                                2015

Member                                             Cell Biology and Genetics Journal Club, Animal                                                                Sciences Department, University of Maryland                                                                  College Park, 2009-2015

Member                                             Genetics Society of America, 2011-2014