I started my bone research journey at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Osteology in Vienna, Austria where I undertook my Bachelor and Master internship investigating how cells control the mineralisation of bone and how to manipulate this process.

In 2018, I moved to Melbourne to start my PhD with Professor Natalie Sims. I continued to work on understanding how cells within the bone (osteoblasts and osteocytes) control bone strength by regulating both mineralisation and the collagen framework. Through this work we established a new understanding on how these cells use internal acidic vesicles (lysosomes) to modify bone material quality.

I finished my PhD in 2022 and since then, continue to work in the Bone Cell Biology and Disease Unit as a Research Officer testing how lysosomal enzyme inhibition affects bone material quality, especially mineral and collagen in vitro and in vivo.

Key Achievements

2023 SVI Rising Star Award

2022 Harold Mitchell Travel Award

2019, 2022, 2024 European Calcified Tissue Society Travel Grant

2019, 2022, 2024 Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society Travel Grant  

2019 ATA Scientific Encouragement Award

2019 Melbourne Medical School Student Publication Prize (1 of 3 Prize Finalists)

2018 SVI PhD Top Up scholarship

2018 ImmunoTool award

Bone Cell Biology & Disease

We study the cells inside the skeleton that control bone strength so we can design better ways of treating bone diseases like osteoporosis.

Lab head: Professor Natalie Sims

View lab profile

Vrahnas C, Blank M, Dite TA, Tatarczuch L, Ansari N, Crimeen-Irwin B, Nguyen H, Forwood MR, Hu Y, Ikegame M, Bambery KR, Petibois C, Mackie EJ, Tobin MJ, Smyth GK, Oakhill JS, Martin TJ, Sims NA. Increased autophagy in EphrinB2-deficient osteocytes is associated with elevated secondary mineralization and brittle bone. Nat Commun. 2019 Jul 31;10(1):3436. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-11373-9. Erratum in: Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 4;10(1):5073. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13040-5. PMID: 31366886; PMCID: PMC6668467.

Blank M, Sims NA. Cellular Processes by Which Osteoblasts and Osteocytes Control Bone Mineral Deposition and Maturation Revealed by Stage-Specific EphrinB2 Knockdown. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2019 Oct;17(5):270-280. doi: 10.1007/s11914-019-00524-y. PMID: 31401710.

Blank M, McGregor NE, Rowley L, et al.. The effect of carbamazepine on bone structure and strength in control and osteogenesis imperfecta (Col1a2 +/p.G610C) mice. J Cell Mol Med. 2022; 26: 4021-4031. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.17437

Chan AS, Hardee JP, Blank M, Cho EH, McGregor NE, Sims NA, Lynch GS. Increasing muscle contractility through low-frequency stimulation alters tibial bone geometry and reduces bone strength in mdx and dko dystrophic mice. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2023 Jul 1;135(1):77-87. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00651.2022. Epub 2023 Jun 1. PMID: 37262103.

Wee NKY, de Lima TFC, McGregor NE, Walker EC, Poulton IJ, Blank M, Sims NA. Leptin receptor in osteocytes promotes cortical bone consolidation in female mice. J Endocrinol. 2022 Sep 7;255(1):25-37. doi: 10.1530/JOE-22-0084. PMID: 35938692.

ORCID: 0000-0002-5312-669X