Katarina is a cell biologist with a strong focus on understanding the fundamental principles that drive early embryonic development in mammals. Katarina earned both her Master's and PhD degrees from the International Max Planck Research School for Molecular Biology at the University of Göttingen, Germany. During her doctoral research, Katarina uncovered novel mechanisms involved in chromosome segregation in mammalian oocytes, as well as new factors contributing to the age-related decline in female fertility.

Presently, Katarina is pursuing her research at the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. Her research is generously supported by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). Through her work, she aspires to advance the field of cell and developmental biology, aiming to shed light on crucial aspects of early embryogenesis and reproductive health in mammals.

Selected Publications

  • Singh, K.*, Harasimov, K.*, Niakan, K. K., & Carter, A. P. (2026). In-situ cryo-ET of mouse embryos reveals cytoplasmic lattices contain ubiquitin-charged E2-E3 ligase assemblies. The EMBO Journal, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-026-00895-w

    * equal contribution 

  • Bower, O. J., Orsi, A. E. R., McMahon, R., Staneva, D., Blagrove, J. R., Singh, K., Simon, C. S., McCarthy, A., Garcia, P., Shaikly, V., Taranissi, M., Wilding, M., Serhal, P., Odia, R. A., Vasilic, M., Choudhary, M., Papathanasiou, A., Elder, K., Snell, P., Christie, L., Arbab, M., Liu, D.R., Herbert, M., Harasimov, K.*, Niakan, K. K.* (2026). Base editing reveals an essential role for NANOG in human embryogenesis. Nature, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10792-1

     * corresponding authors

  • Singh, K.*, Harasimov, K.*, Niakan, K. K., & Carter, A. P. (2026). In situ cryo-ET of mammalian embryos reveals cytoplasmic lattices contain ubiquitin-charged E2-E3 ligase assemblies. bioRxiv, 2026.03.22.713481. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.22.713481

    * equal contribution

  • Harasimov, K.*, Gorry, R. L.*, Welp, L. M.*, Penir, S. M.*, Horokhovskyi, Y.*, Cheng, S., Takaoka, K., Stützer, A., Frombach, A.-S., Tavares, A. L. T., Raabe, M., Haag, S., Saha, D., Grewe, K., Schipper, V., Rizzoli, S. O., Urlaub, H., Liepe, J., & Schuh, M. (2024). The maintenance of oocytes in the mammalian ovary involves extreme protein longevity. Nature Cell Biology, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-024-01442-7

    * equal contribution

  • Harasimov, K., Uraji, J.*, Mönnich, E. U.*, Holubcová, Z., Elder, K., Blayney, M., & Schuh, M. (2023). Actin-driven chromosome clustering facilitates fast and complete chromosome capture in mammalian oocytes. Nature Cell Biology, 25(3), 439–452. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-01082-9

     * equal contribution

  • So, C., Menelaou, K.*, Uraji, J.*, Harasimov, K., Steyer, A. M., Seres, K. B., Bucevičius, J., Lukinavičius, G., Möbius, W., Sibold, C., Tandler-Schneider, A., Eckel, H., Moltrecht, R., Blayney, M., Elder, K., & Schuh, M. (2022). Mechanism of spindle pole organization and instability in human oocytes. Science, 375(6581), eabj3944. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj3944

    * equal contribution

  • Cheng, S.*, Altmeppen, G.*, So, C., Welp, L. M., Penir, S., Ruhwedel, T., Menelaou, K., Harasimov, K., Stützer, A., Blayney, M., Elder, K., Möbius, W., Urlaub, H., & Schuh, M. (2022). Mammalian oocytes store mRNAs in a mitochondria-associated membraneless compartment. Science, 378(6617), eabq4835. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abq4835

     * equal contribution