Maryana Baran is a PhD candidate in Bioengineering in Professor Eileen Gentleman’s lab at King’s College London, with her PhD being a joint collaboration between KCL and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). Her research is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) of the United Kingdom's government. She is also working as a Scientist in the Biometrology Group at NPL.

Maryana’s research focuses on developing advanced tools to modulate cellular and matrix cues in 3D disease models. Her PhD project aims to design, synthesize, and characterize collagen-like and coiled-coil peptides to create 3D cell culture hydrogels for tissue engineering applications. In addition to advancing these models, her work explores the development of peptide-based transfection agents to enhance the delivery of therapeutic molecules. Through her research, Maryana aims to improve tissue engineering strategies and optimize the delivery of therapeutic agents in disease models.

Before starting her PhD, Maryana worked at NPL for 1.5 years as a Scientist, specializing in peptide synthesis, purification, and quality control. Prior to that, she worked for 2.5 years as a peptide chemist at a peptide discovery start-up in Oxford. Maryana completed her MRes in Organic Chemistry: Drug Discovery at UCL in 2018, following her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2017.