Dunja Simicic

Dunja Simicic obtained her Bachelor degree at the Faculty of Science in Engineering Physics in 2015 and her Master’s degree in Biophysics at the University of Split, Croatia in 2017.

She completed her Master project at École polytechnique fĂ©dĂ©rale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the Laboratory of Physics of Complex Matter, after which she became an EPFL Physics PhD candidate in the Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging and CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging in 2017 under the supervision of Dr. Cristina Cudalbu and Prof. Rolf Gruetter. Her thesis research aimed on developing new acquisition and quantification techniques for in vivo proton and phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy and metabolic imaging. Her research also focused on studying chronic hepatic encephalopathy and brain macromolecules. 

She defended her PhD thesis in 2022, and continued to pursue her research interests as a CIBM research staff till 2023. In 2023 Dunja became a Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

PhD Thesis

Advanced metabolite mapping at ultra-high field using 1H-MRS, 1H-MRSI and macromolecules: applications in a rat model of type C hepatic encephalopathy

Dr. Dunja Simicic receives the EPFL Physics Doctoral Thesis Award 2022

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Brain regional vulnerability in the rat brain during type C hepatic encephalopathy: from metabolic to cellular scale

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Fast high-resolution metabolite mapping on a preclinical 14.1T scanner using 1H-FID-MRSI @ISMRM 2022

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Publications

Reproducibility Made Easy: A Tool for Methodological Transparency and Efficient Standardized Reporting Based on the Proposed MRSinMRS Consensus

A. Susnjar; A. Kaiser; D. Simicic; G. Nossa; A. Lin et al. 

NMR in Biomedicine. 2025. Vol. 38, num. 6. DOI : 10.1002/nbm.70039.

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Heterozygous females from a rat model for creatine transporter deficiency reveal altered behavioral response to stressors, normal body weight and slight metabolic changes

L. Duran-Trio; M. Lanzillo; D. Simicic; C. Roux-Petronelli; S. J. Bruce et al. 

Frontiers in neuroscience. 2025. Vol. 19. DOI : 10.3389/fnins.2025.1520550.

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Fast High-Resolution Metabolite Mapping in the rat Brain Using 1H-FID-MRSI at 14.1 T

D. Simicic; B. Alves; J. Mosso; R. B. van Heeswijk; G. Briand et al. 

NMR in biomedicine. 2025. Vol. 38, num. 2. DOI : 10.1002/nbm.5304.

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Noise-reduction techniques for 1H-FID-MRSI at 14.1 T: Monte Carlo validation and in vivo application

B. Alves; D. Simicic; J. Mosso; T. P. LĂȘ; G. M. A. Briand et al. 

NMR in Biomedicine. 2024. Vol. 37, num. 11. DOI : 10.1002/nbm.5211.

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Diffusion of brain metabolites highlights altered brain microstructure in type C hepatic encephalopathy: a 9.4 T preliminary study

J. Mosso; G. Briand; K. Pierzchala; D. Simicic; A. Sierra et al. 

Frontiers In Neuroscience. 2024. Vol. 18, p. 1344076. DOI : 10.3389/fnins.2024.1344076.

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Inhibition of urease-mediated ammonia production by 2-octynohydroxamic acid in hepatic encephalopathy

D. Evstafeva; F. Ilievski; Y. Bao; Z. Luo; B. Abramovic et al. 

Nature Communications. 2024. Vol. 15, num. 1, p. 2226. DOI : 10.1038/s41467-024-46481-8.

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Diffusion-weighted SPECIAL improves the detection of J-coupled metabolites at ultrahigh magnetic field

J. Mosso; D. Simicic; B. Lanz; R. Gruetter; C. Cudalbu 

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 2023. DOI : 10.1002/mrm.29805.

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Brain Regional Differences in the Developing Brain Using an Animal Model of Type C Hepatic Encephalopathy

D. Simicic; K. Pierzchala; O. Braissant; C. Toso; G. Oldani et al. 

2023. 20th Symposium of the International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism, Bad Zwischenahn, GERMANY, SEP 27-29, 2023. p. S24 – S25. DOI : 10.14309/01.ajg.0000948428.52697.c3.

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The Beneficial Effect of Oral Cr Supplementation in an Early Childhood Rat Model of Chronic Hepatic Encephalopathy: In Vivo Longitudinal 1H and 31P Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

D. Simicic; O. Braissant; K. Pierzchala; S. Mitrea; D. Sessa et al. 

2023. 20th Symposium of the International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism, Bad Zwischenahn, GERMANY, SEP 27-29, 2023. p. S12 – S13. DOI : 10.14309/01.ajg.0000948352.71525.d3.

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Age Dependence of Neurometabolic Changes in a Rat Pup Model of Type C Hepatic Encephalopathy

D. Simicic; V. Rackayova; O. Braissant; C. Toso; G. Oldani et al. 

2023. 20th Symposium of the International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism, Bad Zwischenahn, GERMANY, SEP 27-29, 2023. p. S24 – S24. DOI : 10.14309/01.ajg.0000948424.84976.19.

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Evaluation of a Hydroxamate-Based Urease Inhibitor in a Rodent Model of Hepatic Encephalopathy

D. Evstafeva; F. Ilievski; Y. Bao; Z. Luo; B. Abramovic et al. 

2023. 20th Symposium of the International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism, Bad Zwischenahn, GERMANY, SEP 27-29, 2023. p. S30 – S31. DOI : 10.14309/01.ajg.0000948468.55577.45.

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New Insights Into Brain Energy Metabolism in Type C Hepatic Encephalopathy: A Dual 18F-FDG PET and 9.4T 1H MRS Preclinical Study

J. Mosso; T. Yin; C. Poitry-Yamate; D. Simicic; M. Lepore et al. 

2023. 20th Symposium of the International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism, Bad Zwischenahn, GERMANY, SEP 27-29, 2023. p. S12 – S12. DOI : 10.14309/01.ajg.0000948348.20966.21.

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Neurometabolic changes in a rat pup model of type C hepatic encephalopathy depend on age at liver disease onset

D. Simicic; V. Rackayova; O. Braissant; C. Toso; G. Oldani et al. 

Metabolic Brain Disease. 2023. DOI : 10.1007/s11011-023-01210-w.

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Central Nervous System Oxidative Stress interplay with inflammation in a rat model of Type C Hepatic Encephalopathy – brothers in arms?

K. Pierzchala; D. Simicic; A. Sienkiewicz; D. Sessa; S. Mitrea et al. 

2023. 1st international conference on the Future of Redox Biology, ITALY, Jun 17-19, 2022. p. S15 – S15. DOI : 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2022.12.056.

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Neurometabolic profiles of bile duct ligated rats after the treatment with an urease inhibitor – 1H MRS dataset

D. Evstafeva; J-C. Leroux; C. R. Cudalbu; D. Simicic 

2023.

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MP-PCA denoising for diffusion MRS data: promises and pitfalls

J. Mosso; D. Simicic; K. Simsek; R. Kreis; C. Cudalbu et al. 

Neuroimage. 2022. Vol. 263, p. 119634. DOI : 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119634.

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Abnormal brain oxygen homeostasis in an animal model of liver disease

A. Hadjihambi; C. Cudalbu; K. Pierzchala; D. Simicic; C. Donnelly et al. 

Jhep Reports. 2022. Vol. 4, num. 8, p. 100509. DOI : 10.1016/j.jhepr.2022.100509.

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PET CMRglc mapping and H-1-MRS show altered glucose uptake and neurometabolic profiles in BDL rats

J. Mosso; T. Yin; C. Poitry-Yamate; D. Simicic; M. Lepore et al. 

Analytical Biochemistry. 2022. Vol. 647, p. 114606. DOI : 10.1016/j.ab.2022.114606.

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Advanced metabolite mapping at ultra-high field using 1H-MRS, 1H-MRSI and macromolecules: applications in a rat model of type C hepatic encephalopathy

D. Simicic / R. Gruetter; C. R. Cudalbu (Dir.)  

Lausanne, EPFL, 2022. 

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In vivo macromolecule signals in rat brain 1 H‐MR spectra at 9.4T: Parametrization, spline baseline estimation, and T 2 relaxation times

D. Simicic; V. RackayovĂĄ; L. Xin; I. Tkáč; T. Borbath et al. 

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 2021. Vol. 86, num. 5, p. 2384 – 2401. DOI : 10.1002/mrm.28910.

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A new rat model of creatine transporter deficiency reveals behavioral disorder and altered brain metabolism

L. Duran-Trio; G. Fernandes-Pires; D. Simicic; J. Grosse; C. Roux-Petronelli et al. 

Scientific Reports. 2021. Vol. 11, num. 1, p. 1636. DOI : 10.1038/s41598-020-80824-x.

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Late post‐natal neurometabolic development in healthy male rats using 1 H and 31 P Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

V. RačkayovĂĄ; D. Simicic; G. Donati; O. Braissant; R. Gruetter et al. 

Journal of Neurochemistry. 2021. Vol. 157, num. 3, p. 508 – 519. DOI : 10.1111/jnc.15294.

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Contribution of macromolecules to brain H-1 MR spectra: Experts’ consensus recommendations

C. Cudalbu; K. L. Behar; P. K. Bhattacharyya; W. Bogner; T. Borbath et al. 

Nmr In Biomedicine. 2020.  p. e4393. DOI : 10.1002/nbm.4393.

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Brain Regional Susceptibility to Oxidative Stress in a Rat Model of Chronic Hepatic Encephalopathy: In-Vivo 1H MRS, Ex-Vivo ESR Spectroscopy and Histology Findings

K. Pierzchala; D. Simicic; V. Rackayova; D. Sessa; A. Sienkiewicz et al. 

2019. 18th International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism Meeting, Williamsburg, VA, Sep 12-15, 2019. p. S33 – S36. DOI : 10.14309/01.ajg.0000582248.03815.eb.

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Hippocampal and Cerebellar Astrocytes Morphological Alterations in a Rat Model of Chronic Hepatic Encephalopathy

K. Pierzchala; D. Simicic; O. Braissant; V. A. McLin; C. Cudalbu 

2019. 18th International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism Meeting, Williamsburg, VA, Sep 12-15, 2019. p. S33 – S33.

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In Vivo Longitudinal 1H MRS Study of Hippocampal, Cereberal and Striatal Metabolic Changes in the Adult Brain Using an Animal Model of Chronic Hepatic Encephalopathy

D. Simicic; K. Pierzchala; V. Rackayova; O. Braissant; S-O. Mitrea et al. 

2019. 18th International-Society-for-Hepatic-Encephalopathy-and-Nitrogen-Metabolism Meeting, Williamsburg, VA, Sep 12-15, 2019. p. S17 – S17. DOI : 10.14309/01.ajg.0000582108.29364.13.

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