Dr inż. Aleksandra Grzelakowska, the Institute of Polymer and Dye Technology at the Faculty of Chemistry, was awarded the NAWA Bekker 2022 internship in the latest edition of the competition. 355 applicants sought the award, of whom 77 did so successfully.
Dr inż. Aleksandra Grzelakowska's research interests concentrate on the development of new, well-characterized fluorescent probes to detect different cellular constituents of biological cells, mainly reactive forms of oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Her research involves the design and synthesis of the probes, their spectroscopic characterization, the identification of their chemical reactivity, including the determination of major and specific reaction products, stoichiometry, and the kinetics of reactions. Her recent research has also been focused on designing and developing compounds that selectively accumulate in the mitochondria of cancer cells and induce oxidative stress to stop the proliferation of these cells.
Dr inż. Aleksandra Grzelakowska, is the author and co-author of 23 publications and 12 patents. She was the principal investigator in a grant from the National Science Center MINIATURA 4 funding scheme and a participant (postdoc) in a grant funded from the SONATA BIS 6 scheme.
The award winner describes her research and plans regarding the research fellowship
I received a grant for a 24-month postdoctoral internship at the Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, USA) in the research group of dr. hab. inż. Jacek Zielonka. Beginning in September 2023, I will be working there on the research project called 'Specific modulation and detection of mitochondrial oxidants in cancer cells.' Understanding the complex biological role played by reactive oxygen species within the mitochondrion (mROS) and how they affect cell death requires the use of probes and application of methods to modulate, detect, identify, and quantify them.
The goal of the project is to understand the role of mROS in pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and death. New mitochondria-targeted tools for modulation, specific detection, and quantification of oxidants will be developed. The project, once completed, may serve as the groundwork for the development of new cancer treatment strategies involving mitochondrially targeted prooxidants (chemicals that induce oxidative stress) and the induction of cell death, i.e., ferroptosis.
In 2019, I completed a short-term postdoctoral internship in the group of dr hab. inż. Jacek Zielonka, at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The skills and experience I gained during that first stay at the college allowed me to expand my research activities to include biological research. Nevertheless, two months is too short a time to fully explore the limitations and opportunities for development concerning probes and modulators of the cellular redox state (oxidants and antioxidants). During this longer term research internship, I will be able to further my understanding of redox biology and learn new research methods that I will then apply in my future research work.
Completing a long research internship abroad will have a significant impact on the further development of my academic career and my research plans. I am confident that it will also strengthen my ability to successfully apply for national and international research grants once I have returned to Lodz University of Technology. Additionally, my participation in the Bekker program supports Lodz University of Technology's strategic goal of internationalization. Successful performance of the project will strengthen current collaborations and allow me to establish new connections with researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin and other research institutes, and boost my visibility as a researcher nationally and internationally.
I am convinced that the internship will facilitate ongoing exchange of ideas and insights with world-class scientists and will lead to many collaborative research initiatives with an internationally acclaimed research group.