Paula Leonhardt

PhD student

Investigating the toxicological effect of micro- and nanoplastics on the airways

About Info

Paula Leonhardt started their journey at Maastricht University in 2018 at Campus Venlo, where they completed their bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. They continued their studies with a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences at UM, and started their research into micro- and nanoplastics during their master thesis internship at the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in 2022/23. Further, they have completed graduate-level online courses within the Master of Computational Biology program at Munster Technological University (Cork, Ireland) to deepen their understanding into bioinformatic tools. 

Paula is now continuing their work on micro- and nanoplastics during their PhD, focusing on polyamide (nylon) nanoparticles, understanding the molecular mechanisms driving their toxicity and dose-response evaluation. For this, they will be analyzing human and mouse RNA sequencing data, as well as employing various (advanced) in vitro models, like primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBECs) for the further testing of these particles. 

Paula’s PhD falls within the Momentum project on microplastics and human health, funded by ZonMw and Health~Holland: momentummicroplastics.nl