After completing my PhD in Dublin City University, I moved to Japan in 2015 to undertake a postdoctoral position in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine in Keio University, Tokyo under the supervision of Prof Tomoko Betsuyaku and Prof Ahmed Hegab. There I was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship for research working on lung stem cells, alveolar cells, aging, diet and pulmonary fibrosis. After 5 years in Japan, I moved back to Ireland, and I am currently working as a Research Fellow, examining familial related pulmonary fibrosis in iPSC models in the Department of Medicine and Tissue Engineering Research Group under Prof Killian Hurley.

My main research interest is to better understand the pathogenesis of genetic lung diseases, in particular, pulmonary fibrosis, using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell models. I am specifically interested in telomere biology and sex hormones and deciphering their roles in pulmonary fibrosis thereby identifying novel targets for personalized treatments. I currently hold a Reserch Fellowship from the Irish Research Council.

Email: mariozaki@rcsi.ie