Nicole Dvorak

Oxford-BMS Research Fellow

Nicole's work focusses on the molecular mechanisms of Frozen Shoulder.

Frozen shoulder is poorly understood and there are no credible animal disease models. It is also a unique example of an inflammatory fibrotic disease that spontaneously resolves over time. With the help of 3D models and primary patient-derived cells, Nicole tries to elucidate the cellular, molecular and biophysical cues responsible for driving a fibrotic or resolving trajectory.

Background
Nicole studied Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the IMC FH Krems, Austria, where she graduated with distinction.

For her Bachelor Thesis, she spent a semester at UC San Francisco, working on biomarker detection to predict kidney transplant rejection. This work was funded by the Marshal Plan Foundation
For her Master Thesis she did an applied research semester at the Queensland University of Technology, working on the Design and Fabrication of a biodegradable Scaffold to support periodontal cell growth.

For her DPhil she characterized a novel tissue culture chamber that can mimic the native mechanical environment and forces acting on human cells. This work was funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.

Working at NDORMS combines her two passions; Sports and Regenerative Medicine.

Committees
Nicole formerly held positions in the NDORMS Student Committee, the MSD Graduate Joint Consultative Committee and the MSD Graduate School Committee. She was also part of the departmental Equality and Diversity Team.

Peer Support
You can contact Nicole directly if you want to speak to her in her Peer Support role.
She is part of the newly formed Disability and Diversity Peers, focussing on issues commonly shared among disabled and neurodiverse people..

In her spare time, she engages in various sports, rows and coaches the adaptive rowing squad at the City of Oxford Rowing Club