Corina Balut 

Identification

Name: CORINA – MIHAELA BALUT 
International Centre of Biodynamics
CALEA PLEVNEI 46-48, BUCHAREST 1, ROMANIA
Phone: 310 43 54; 310 43 64; Fax: 310 43 61
e-mail: cbalut@biodyn.ro

Education

1989-1994 Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest (specialisation in Biophysics)
1998 PhD Student, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biology, Department of Physiology and Biophysics (PhD thesis in preparation)

Training

Summer Course "Non-invasive Diagnostics with Electrical Impedance" organised by the Summer University of Southern Stockholm and the Division of Medical Engineering, Karolinska Institute, Sweden, June, 1997.

Practical course on fluorescence spectroscopy techniques applied to intracellular calcium concentration and membrane fluidity measurements organised at the Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology, University Medical School of Debrecen, Hungary, December, 1997.

Current Position

2000-... Senior Researcher, Biophysics, Modelling & Data Analysis Division at the International Centre of Biodynamics, Bucharest

Former Positions

1996-2000 Biophysicist Researcher at the Biophysics Department, UNESCO Centre of Biodynamics, National Institute of Biotechnologies, Bucharest
1994-1996 Biophysicist and Scientific Researcher (1995) at the Biophysics Laboratory, Centre of Biotechnologies, BIOTEHNOS, Bucharest

Research Stages abroad

2001 Short term research visit (1 month) at KU Leuven, Department of Physiology, Belgium, Project “Impedance spectroscopy of biological membranes: modeling the epithelial tissue and dielectric dispersion in the plasma membrane” financed in the frame of the bilateral agreement Romania-Flanders BIL 026, 2000-2003.
2002 Research stage (3 months) at Limburgs Universitair Centrum, Department of Physiology, Diepenbeeck, Belgium, Bilateral Project BIL 026.
2003-2004 Research stage (8 months) at Limburgs Universitair Centrum, Department of Physiology, 
Diepeenbeck, Belgium, Bilateral Project BIL 026. 

Membership

1994-present Member of the Romanian National Society of Pure and Applied Biophysics;
1994-present Member of the European Bioelectromagnetics Association;
1996-present Member of the Board of the National Society of Bioelectrochemistry.

Scientific Interests

• monitoring & modelling of the dynamics of the electrical properties of living cells during cellular division

• fitting algorithms to derive the cellular parameters from dielectric spectroscopy data

• role of membrane lipids on ion transport in epithelial cells

• fluorescence methods to reveal membrane/intracellular events

Publications

1. C.M. Mihai, M. Mehedintu, E. Gheorghiu, "The biological relevance of truncated models on dielectric behaviour of cell suspensions", Proceedings of the IX International Conference on Electrical Bio-Impedance, Germany, 400 - 404, (1995)

2. M. Mehedintu, C.M. Mihai, E. Gheorghiu, "A non invasive method to evaluate stress effects at cellular level", Proceedings of the IX International Conference on Electrical Bio-Impedance, Germany, 63 - 67, (1995)

3. C.M. Mihai, M. Mehedintu, E. Gheorghiu, "The derivation of cellular properties from dielectric spectroscopy data", Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg., No. 40, 187-192, (1996).

4. C.M. Mihai, E. Gheorghiu, “Using of truncated models to derive the invariant measure of living cell dynamics”, J. Tech. Physics, No. 2 (1996).

5. M. Mehedintu, C. M. Mihai, E. Gheorghiu, "Fast, in flux, procedure to measure and preserve the growth medium parameters" Bioelectrochem.Bioenerg., No. 40, 181-187, (1996).

6. E. Gheorghiu, C. M. Balut, K. Asami, "Monitoring cell cycle progression by impedance spectroscopy", Med. Biol. Eng.Comput., 37 (1999), 146-147.

7. C. M. Balut, E. Gheorghiu, "On the errors in determining cell properties from impedance data: theoretical and experimental aspects", Med. Biol. Eng. Comput., 37 (1999),166 -167.

8. E. Gheorghiu, C. M. Balut, K. Asami, "Monitoring cell cycle progression by impedance spectroscopy", Med. Biol. Eng. Comput., 37 (1999), 146-147. 

9. E.Gheorghiu, C. Balut, M. Gheorghiu, “Dielectric behaviour of Gap Junction Connected cells: a Microscopic Approach”, Physics in Medicine and Biology, 47 (2002) 341-348.

10. E. Gheorghiu, D. Andreescu, M. Oporanu, S. Cazacu, C. Balut, A. Ursu ”Impedance spectroscopy in biodynamics: detection of specific cells (pathogens) using immune coated electrodes”, Songklanakarin, Journal o Science and Technology, Vol.24(Suppl.) 2002: Membrane Sci. & Tech., 

11. O.A. Sadik, E. Gheorghiu, H. Xu, D. Andreescu, C. Balut, M. Gheorghiu, D.Bratu, "Differential Impedance Spectroscopy for Monitoring Protein Immobilization and Antibody-Antigen Reactions", Analytical Chemistry, 74 (2002), 3142-3150.

12. C.M. Balut, W. van Driessche, P. Steels. Effects of membrane cholesterol on epithelial sodium channels present in A6 cells and expressed in Xenopus Laevis oocytes. Pflugers Archive, March, 2004, 447, Supplem. 1, R9 (abstract).