Confirmed speakers for XXVI Biotechnology Summer School:
Associate Professor Wojciech Siwek
International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science (ICCVS), University of Gdańsk, Poland
Wojciech Siwek is an assistant professor at the International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science (ICCVS), University of Gdańsk (PL). He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Warsaw (PL) and a PhD in biochemistry from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB) (PL). Later in his career, he trained at the Gulbenkian Institute (PT), University of Oxford (UK) and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (USA). He specializes in biomedical research with a focus on gene regulation and epigenetics. Wojciech is fascinated by how cells remember previous environmental states and is keen to translate his research into the clinic.
Bartłomiej TomasikMD PhD
Department of Gynecological Oncology and Radiotherapy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland
In 2014, Bartłomiej graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University of Lodz. In 2019, he defended a doctorate thesis “Identification and application of circulating microRNAs in monitoring complications of radiotherapy in patients with oropharyngeal cancer” at that University. His work has been recognized by the Polish Society of Clinical Oncology as the best PhD thesis defended in 2019. Additionally, in 2020, he graduated from the Postgraduate School of Molecular Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw. Bartlomiej continued his clinical training with his research work, leading him to become a board-certified radiation oncologist in 2020. Later, he did a short post-doc at the Dana- Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, USA) and came back to Poland in 2021 to start working as Assistant Prof. at the Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Medical University of Gdańsk. Here he works as a research group coordinator focused on radiotherapy’s physical and clinical aspects. In addition, Bartłomiej is on the management board of the HORIZON 2020-funded project, STOPSTORM, which is the acronym for “Standardized Treatment and Outcome Platform for Stereotactic Therapy of Re-entrant tachycardia by a Multidisciplinary consortium”.
Helen Wright PhD
Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England
Dr Helen Wright is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences. She has a special interest in the role of neutrophils in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, with a focus on the regulation of metabolism and gene expression in inflammatory neutrophils. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in 2005 with a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and obtained her PhD at the University of Liverpool in 2009. In 2010 she was awarded an Arthritis Research UK Foundation Fellowship, during which she characterized neutrophils from RA patients before and after TNF inhibitor therapy using RNA-sequencing. As part of the Fellowship, she spent time at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in New York, undertaking state-of-the-art training in bioinformatics data analysis and computer programming. More recently she has been awarded major research grants from the Wellcome Trust, Pfizer and Versus Arthritis, through which she has developed protocols applying quantitative proteomics and 1H NMR metabolomics technologies to further define the activation of neutrophils in RA. Her research has provided unprecedented insight into the role of neutrophils in inflammatory diseases and ageing. She was awarded the British Society for Rheumatology Garrod Prize in 2017 and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2018. Her award of a Versus Arthritis Career Development Fellowship has enabled her to further develop skills in advanced statistics and computational biology to enable the integration of multiple–omics datasets. In her wider University roles, she is chair of the musculoskeletal biology patient involvement panel which brings together researchers and people with musculoskeletal disease to discuss research priorities and the design of research studies with a patient focus. She is a member of the ILCaMS Fellowships Panel and actively mentors ECRs through fellowship and tenure-track applications, and she also sits on the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences Research Ethics Committee.
Professor Bożena Kamińska
Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Prof. Bozena Kaminska is head of the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. She obtained her PhD in biochemistry at the Nencki Institute in 1991 and after postdoctoral training at the Mc Gill University in Montreal, Canada, she become a full professor in 2003. From 2009 to 2023 she was the director of the Postgraduate School of Molecular Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw. She was a visiting researcher at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA in Los Angeles, USA (2001-2002) and the Nanshan Scholar professor at the Medical University of Guangzhou, China (2019-2022). She is an elected member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (since 2016) and European Molecular Biology Organization (since2022).
She received a prestigious Foundation for Polish Science Award 2021 in life sciences and the Prime Minister Award for scientific achievements (2022); was nominated by NCN for AcademiaNet – Expert Database for Outstanding Female Scientists and Scholars.
Professor Leendert Trouw
Department of Immunology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
Leendert Trouw studied Biology in Leiden and already during his PhD training, at the Department of Nephrology in the LUMC, he became fascinated by autoantibodies and complement. This research, conducted in the lab of Prof. Dr. Daha, provided the explanation as to why anti-C1q autoantibodies contributed to renal damage in patients suffering from lupus, whereas the same antibodies were not harmful for healthy individuals.
To gain more understanding of the role of complement in autoimmunity, Dr. Trouw moved to the lab of Prof. Dr. Blom, Lund University, in Malmo, Sweden. During this period Dr. Trouw focussed, now as a post-doc, especially on the role of endogenous complement inhibitors on the protection of dying and dead cells from excessive complement attack.
To further develop himself in the field of complement and autoantibodies in a more clinical setting Dr. Trouw, now as a senior post-doc, started working with Prof. Dr. Huizinga and Prof. Dr. Toes at the Department of Rheumatology in the LUMC. Next to studies on the complement activating potential of ACPA and several genetic studies Dr. Trouw and his team set up a series of experiments that led to the identification of a new autoantibody in rheumatoid arthritis, the anti-CarP antibodies. After obtaining both an NWO VENI and a VIDI grant Dr. Trouw now focussed, as associate professor, on the role of complement in autoimmunity particularly in RA and SLE and on the characterisation of the anti-CarP antibody response. After obtaining an ERC-consolidator grant he moved his lab to the Department of Immunology in the LUMC. Now as a full professor in immunology focussed on complement biology and therapy, he initiated ‘Complement Center Leiden’. With his team, he is currently studying biomarkers, complement biology and targeted antibody-based complement therapeutics.
Magdalena Winiarska PhD
Department of Immunology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Magdalena Winiarska was awarded a PhD by the Medical University of Warsaw (MUW) in 2008 and DSc in 2018. Early in her career, she was involved in the research on the antitumor activity of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies. These studies have led to the identification of hitherto undescribed mechanisms of regulation of CD20 expression and signalling pathways associated with the process of translation of CD20 mRNA. She was a visiting scientist to the lab of Prof. Efremov, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Italy and Cancer Laboratory led by Prof. Olive, Institut Paoli Calmettes, Aix-Marseille Université, France. She has secured funding in several grants funded by Polish (National Science Centre, National Centre for Research and Development) and European (ERC Starting Grant) institutions. She was awarded a Fellowship for Outstanding Young Researchers by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland, as well as fellowship from ASH, as a visiting student at UTHSCSA, San Antonio, USA. She was a Laureate in “Medicine” category in “Poles with Verve” poll and was also awarded by “Polityka” weekly Polish journal with the Scientific Award for young researchers. Her PhD thesis was recognized as the outstanding doctoral thesis and rewarded with the highest Scientific Award from the Prime Minister of Poland. From the Foundation for Polish Science, she obtained a stipend for outstanding young researchers and from L`Oreal & Unesco ‘For Woman in Science’ she was awarded a PhD fellowship. During her career, she was a mentor of more than 20 graduate students and supervisor of five PhD students. Recently, she has been extensively searching for novel antigens that could be used as potential therapeutic targets in adoptive therapy with chimeric antigen receptors-modified T cells.
Professor Piotr Trzonkowski MD
Department of Medical Immunology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
Piotr Trzonkowski, professor of Immunology, actively involved in the clinical research with T regulatory cells and mechanisms of immunosuppression for over 20 years. His group developed and applied first-in-man protocols of the treatment with expanded T regulatory cells.
He graduated from the Medical University of Gdańsk in 1999. In 2003 he defended Ph.D. thesis on the suppressive mechanisms in human immunosenescence which included his first works on T regulatory cells. From 2004, he worked at Oxford University on the immune background of the depleting therapy with alemtuzumab in kidney transplant recipients. He was also involved there in the work on T regulatory cells biology. These studies were continued after getting back to Poland as PI in the Department of Medical Immunology, Medical University of of Gdańsk and also as a visiting professor in the Department of Surgery, University of Chicago. The trials on the clinical application of T regulatory cells supervised by prof. Trzonkowski covered graft versus host disease, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and pancreatic islets allotransplantation. In 2015, he set up a spin-off PolTREG to commercialize the therapy. His group conducts also research in novel approaches to cellular therapy in autoimmune and malignant diseases in man, synthesis of immunosuppressive small-particle drug candidates and posttransplant laboratory diagnostics in allograft recipients. In 2017, he has been awarded with the highest scientific award in Poland, the Foundation for Polish Science Prize in the life and earth sciences in 2017
Calliope Dendrou PhD
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, Oxford, England
Calli Dendrou obtained her BSc in Biology with First Class Honours and won the Forbes Memorial Medal for Excellence in Biology at Imperial College (2005). She then went on to obtain a Wellcome Trust PhD in Infection and Immunity at the University of Cambridge (2010). Under the supervision of Profs Linda Wicker and John Todd she investigated genotype-to-phenotype correlations for GWAS variants in type 1 diabetes.
Subsequently, she joined the University of Oxford to undergo her postdoctoral training with Prof Lars Fugger at the Oxford Centre of Neuroinflammation in the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, expanding her interest in functional genetics to multiple sclerosis.
In 2017 Calli was awarded a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship to start her group at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, focusing on cross-disease genomics, encompassing functional analysis of the tyrosine kinase 2 locus, application of Bayesian approaches for UK Biobank analyses, and high-throughput single-cell profiling of patient samples.
In June 2023 she moved her Cross-Inflammatory Disease Multiomics Lab to the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, as a KTRR Group Leader in Clinical Pathology. Her group investigates molecular circuits and cellular mechanisms across tissues and across diseases for the purpose of identifying ‘hubs’ that may be targeted therapeutically via drug repositioning approaches. They also interrogate the relationship between variation in cell responsiveness and transcriptional kinetics and the spectrum of immune-related diseases spanning malignancies, autoimmunity and infections to help inform risk-benefit analyses in the context of therapeutic targeting. Through these interests Calli is the Data Analysis Lead for several consortia.
Professor Jan Rehwinkel
Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, England
Jan is interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying host-pathogen interactions. In particular, Jan studies how cells detect virus infection. His work lies at the intersection of immunology, virology and molecular biology. After undergraduate training in biology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, Jan joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) as a PhD student. Under supervision of Elisa Izaurralde, Jan studied post-transcriptional control of messenger RNA, including the mechanisms by which microRNAs repress their targets, and obtained a PhD in 2007. This background in RNA biology led Jan to develop an interest in nucleic acids in innate immunity. As a postdoctoral fellow, he joined the group of Caetano Reis e Sousa, then at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (London, UK). Jan investigated how RNA viruses such as influenza A virus are recognised by innate immune sensors, particularly RIG-I. In 2012, Jan moved to the University of Oxford, UK, to establish his independent research group. His laboratory is part of the MRC Human Immunology Unit and the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. Jan’s research dissects nucleic acid sensing by innate receptors in the context of virus infection, autoinflammatory disease and cancer. Jan’s work is funded by the MRC, Wellcome Trust, Lister Institute and European Union.
Edyta Bartusik-Czubek, PhD
Edyta Bartusik-Czubek is a Manager of Analytics and Process Development Division at Mabion S.A.
She obtained her master’s degree in Biotechnology at the Gdańsk University of Technology. Her research focused on the impact of the expression of the UGT1A10 isoenzyme on the cellular response induced by the triazoloacridone derivative C-1305 on the HT-29 and HCT-116 cancer cell lines.
Immediately after obtaining her master’s degree, she started working at Mabion S.A. specializing in cultures of mammalian cells producing monoclonal antibodies for anticancer therapies. During over 11-year career at Mabion, she expanded her interests to further areas related to broadly understood processes of production and quantitative and qualitative analysis of biologically active molecules. She is constantly fascinated by statistics and the enormous scientific and business benefits of statistical data analysis combined with knowledge and understanding of processes.
In parallel to working at Mabion S.A. she completed her doctoral studies at the Medical University of Lodz, researching and describing the relationships between mammalian cell culture conditions and the glycosylation profile and biological activity of monoclonal therapeutic antibodies. In 2024, she defended a doctorate thesis ‘Investigation of the impact of the glycosylation profile of a monoclonal antibody on its biological activity, as well as the possibility of controlled modification of the glycosylation profile by changing the values of cell culture process parameters using and example of rituximab’ at that University. Currently, she manages a team of 30 scientists in the R&D department of Mabion S.A., combining scientific aspects with a business approach in her daily work.
dr Jarosław Korczyński z KAWA.SKA
From a young age, I have been fascinated by biology and the natural world. I followed my interests during my education process and finally graduated biology with honors at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. There, for the first time, I have become familiar with the fascinating world of microscopy experiments. My enthusiasm for biology led me to pursue PhD studies at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw, Poland. There, I investigated the signaling pathways that regulate actin cytoskeleton dynamics in glioma C6 cells and astrocytes, utilizing both biochemical and confocal microscopy techniques. During my PhD, I gained expertise in various fluorescence microscopy techniques, including super-resolution, 3D visualization, F-techniques, calcium measurement, and live cell imaging. Currently, I have been working as an Advanced Workflow Specialist for 10 years at KAWA.SKA, a leading distributor of Leica microscopy equipment in Poland.