Prof. Dr. phil. nat. Katia Monastyrskaya
Katia Monastyrskaya studied Biology at the Moscow State University
in Russia, graduating with a B. Sc. in Molecular Biology (honours),
followed by a M.Sc. in Molecular Genetics. During the studies she
was a recipient of Belozersky Scholarship. In 1990 KM moved to the
UK to work in the laboratory of Prof. P. Roy at the NERC Institute
of Virology and Environmental Microbiology in Oxford, undertaking
research on double-stranded RNA viruses. She obtained D.Phil. in
Biochemistry from Wadham College, University of Oxford, UK (1995)
and continued as a postdoc at the NERC Institute of Virology
(1994-1997). KM investigated viral replication and packaging, and
viral protein structure and participated in the development of novel
vaccine delivery systems based on virus-like particles of bluetongue
virus.
Moving to Switzerland in 1997, Katia joined H. Hoffmann-La
Roche/Givaudan AG as a Senior Scientist, (1997-2001) investigating
the molecular mechanisms of olfaction and taste. She was profiling
olfactory neurons’ responses to the individual compounds using a
calcium imaging and developed a receptor-based in vitro system for
high-throughput screening of the novel taste compounds and taste
enhancers. Interest in cell communication and calcium signalling
persisted when Katia moved to Bern, returning to Academia as a
Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Anatomy, University of
Bern (2001-2011) where she earned her venia docendi (Habilitation)
in 2007. While studying calcium binding proteins involved in signal
transduction in smooth muscle cells, she began collaborating with
Fiona C. Burkhard at the Department of Urology, Inselspital,
focusing on molecular mechanisms of bladder dysfunction.
Since 2011 KM is a Group Leader in the Functional Urology Group,
Urology Research Laboratory, Department for BioMedical Research
(DBMR) and Inselspital. Our group’s focus is the non-cancerous
diseases of the lower urinary tract caused by benign prostatic
obstruction and neurologic disorders. In 2014 Katia became Associate
Professor, and combines research with teaching at the Medical
Faculty, University of Bern.