Education
2016, MSc in Biotechnology, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
2021, PhD in Neuroscience, OU Neuroscience, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Research interests
Spinal cord development and aging, neural simulations, space biology
Publications
Selected Publications
Xu, H*; Piekarz, KM*; Brown, J; Bhaskaran, S; Van Remmen, H; Neuroprotective treatment with the nitrone compound OKN-007 mitigates age-related muscle weakness in aging mice. GeroScience 2024
Piekarz, KM, Stolfi, A; Development and circuitry of the tunicate larval Motor Ganglion, a putative hindbrain/spinal cord homolog. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 2023 Wiley Online Library
Piekarz, KM; Georgescu, Constantin; Wren, Jonathan D; Towner, Rheal A; Van Remmen, Holly. Pharmacologic treatment with OKN-007 reduces alpha-motor neuron loss in spinal cord of aging mice. GeroScience 44 1 67-81 2022
Piekarz, KM; Bhaskaran, Shylesh; Sataranatarajan, Kavithalakshmi; Street, Kaitlyn; Premkumar, Pavithra; Saunders, Debra; Zalles, Michelle; Gulej, Rafal; Khademi, Shadi; Laurin, Jaime; Peelor 3rd, Fredrick F; Miller, Benjamin F; Towner, Rheal; Van Remmen, Holly. Molecular changes associated with spinal cord aging. Geroscience 42 2 765-784 2020
* Equal contributions
Awards and Fellowships
2024-2025 NASA STAR-5 Program: Spaceflight Technology, Applications, and Research
2024 OIST Computational Neuroscience Course
2020 Poster Award at OCNS Research Retreat
2019 Diana Jacobs Kalman/AFAR Scholarship for Research in the Biology of Aging
2019 Oklahoma Center for Neuroscience Seed Grant
2019 OUHSC Graduate College Award for Scientific Achievement at GREAT Symposium
2019 OUHSC sponsored AGE meeting Travel Award
2018-2019 OMRF Pre-doctoral Scholarship, Drs. Patricia H. and J. Donald Capra Scholarship Fund
2018 Superior Poster Presentation by a Pre-doctoral Student at AGE, meeting of the American Aging Association
2018 Best Student Poster Award at Oklahoma Geroscience Symposium
2015-2016 Fulbright Visiting Graduate Research Traineeship Program (currently BioLAB) at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation