Dr Jana Stastna

After my doctoral studies, I spent two years working as a post-doctoral researcher and teaching fellow in the section of Life Sciences. During this time, I undertook PGCAP training (CCCU) and received a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice allowing me to attain Fellowship of the HEA. I started my lecture post as a Human Biologist in 2018. Ever since I was little, I was always fascinated with how human body works, and this lectureship offers me an ideal opportunity to pass this passion to my students. I am especially interested in biological anthropology and how our ancestry shaped us the ‘modern humans’.

My other activities include being a course advocate for the Human Biology BSc course and I have promoted the course at Open Days, Applicant Days and on social media. Subsequently, I was appointed to the role of the Social Media Lead within the NAS Section (since 2022). I am hoping to further promote CCCU on the social media and have many exciting plans to invite outside speakers to our new Verena Holmes building.

My main duties include the design and delivery of undergraduate modules including an Introduction to Biology, Human Biology and Human Anatomy and Introduction to Physiology modules. I am also responsible for the design and delivery of the intense practical sessions for Foundation level as well as Anatomy and Physiology sessions for level 4 students.

Part of my lecturer role is also pastoral care, and I am a personal academic tutor to over twenty undergraduate students on Human Biology and Biomedical courses.

I am very passionate about science, and I like to transfer this passion to my students. My primary research interest is in aging and stress response on an organismal level. The animal I use for my research is the Caenorhabditis elegans.

This roundworm is a major model organism for human health and disease. My research activities resulted in many scientific publications in high quality journals, and I present my findings regularly at national and international conferences.

My latest research project with C. elegans investigates whether regular exercise can slow down the progress of neurodegeneration in different genetic background. This project is a collaboration with my research partners at the Wageningen University, Netherlands.

Although my own research has been mainly conducted here at CCCU, I have also worked alongside experts in my research field in laboratories in Oxford (Department of Zoology), Wageningen University, Netherlands (Department of Nematology) and North-western University, Chicago, USA (Department of Biomolecular Sciences). 

Linked in: linkedin.com/in/jana-stastna-41b71099 Twitter: @JJStastna