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
Liv Jensen.
Administrative consultant @ AU.
Liv works part time with the Davis lab as well as other research groups at the Institute of Biomedicine at Aarhus University. She helps the group with a broad range of administrative tasks. She has been a part of the Davis Lab since October 2024.
Liv completed her Master of Arts from Aarhus University in 2019. Since then, she has worked as a teacher at several different Danish Folk High Schools (Da: Højskoler) before she decided to pursue a career within administration and communication. Liv is an experienced musician and continuously uses her musical and pedagogical skills as a part time musician, singer and choir conductor alongside her academic career.
Marcus Rosendal.
Research Assistant @ AU.
Marcus completed his master's degree at the Department of Molecular Medicine, SDU, in 2022. As a part of his master's project, he studied the role of specific neutrophil subpopulations in development of triple-negative breast cancer using a syngeneic mouse model. Interestingly, he and his colleagues at SDU discovered a neutrophil subpopulation with protumor activity that could be targeted pharmacologically with an FGFR inhibitor. After completing his studies at SDU, he joined the AU spinout company, Unikum Therapeutics, where he contributed development of a cellular immunotherapy against solid tumors and autoimmune diseases. In April 2024, he joined the Department of Functional Genomics and Metabolism, at SDU, where he supported a joint innovation project with Prof. Dr. Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld, Prof. Dr. Hildegard Büning and collaborators at Novo Nordisk in Måløv, focusing on specific targeting of adipose tissue in mice with genetically engineered adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors
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
Trine Lund Ruus (Lab Technician, 2021-2024)
Anie Kurumlian (Research Assistant, 2020-2021)
Dr Teneale Stewart (Postdoc, 2018-2021)
Alex Stevenson (Research Assistant, 2018-2020)
Former Students
Emma Paydari (Empirical Bachelor Student, AU, 2023 and Research year Student 2024)
Marie Elizabeth Sander (Theoretical Bachelor Student, AU, 2023)
Emma Vang Platz (Theoretical Bachelor Student, AU 2023)
Negar Zargarbalajam (Empirical Bachelor Student, AU, 2022)
Stephanie Samios (Honours Student, UQ, 2019)
Samantha Leatham (Honours Student, UQ, 2019)
Sneha Nair (Masters Student, UQ, 2018)
Pei Wen Ho (Honours Student, UQ, 2018)