Szilvia Kiraly

Szilvia is a postdoctoral researcher working in Prof. Robin Klemm’s group, where she studies how organelle networks around lipid droplets control adipocyte differentiation. She uses a combination of electron microscopy, cell biology and quantitative proteomics approaches to discover new organelle interfaces that support fat synthesis and consumption. She is fascinated by the concept that an entire organelle neighbourhood is required to drive adipocyte differentiation. Lipid-mediated crosstalk coordinates the cellular response across compartments to synthesise large lipid droplets, which are the signature organelles of these cells. Szilvia builds her new project on extensive experience gained during her PhD in the lab of Dr Emily Eden at University College London, UCL. In the Eden group, Szilvia was funded by the UKRI MRC Doctoral Training Program Scholarship and studied organelle-interaction in the context of the neurodegenerative lipid storage disorder Niemann-Pick type C disease. She received her MSci in Cell Biology (UCL), working with Prof. Michael Duchen, investigating the coupled dysfunction of mitochondria and lysosomes in Parkinson’s Disease patient cells with Gaucher’s Disease mutations.