Team
Our team is comprised of world-class scientists, dedicated graduate students, and talented assistants who share a passion and commitment to our mission. With their diverse backgrounds and expertise, our team members bring a wealth of knowledge and creativity to our cancer biology research.
Together, we strive to deliver breakthrough discoveries and develop innovative therapies that will benefit patients worldwide. Our collaborative and driven approach creates an environment where excellence thrives and new ideas have the opportunity to flourish.
We invite you to follow our progress and support us in this important mission. Together, we are striving for a future where cancer is a disease that can be effectively defeated.
prof. dr hab. Magdalena Król
Director
Professor Magdalena Król is a distinguished scientist and leader, recognized for her pioneering work in cancer research and innovative therapies. As a Full Professor at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences and Director of the Center of Cellular Immunotherapies, she has made significant strides in advancing our understanding of cancer biology, particularly through her groundbreaking research on macrophage therapy for solid tumors.
Her leadership is further exemplified by her role as the Chief Scientific Officer at Cellis AG, where she has successfully driven a novel macrophage therapy from its conceptual stages to the brink of clinical trials, demonstrating exceptional pre-clinical results. This accomplishment showcases her strategic vision, project management skills, and her ability to lead high-impact research initiatives.
Magdalena’s ability to secure substantial funding is evident from her success in obtaining three prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grants, along with numerous other international grants (e.g. EIC), which have significantly enhanced her research capabilities and expanded the scope of her projects. Her work has not only been recognized by the scientific community but has also earned her several prestigious awards, including being a finalist for the EU Prize for Women Innovators in 2020 and receiving the “Man of the Year” in Science by Gazeta Wyborcza, as well as the Highest Scientific Award from POLITYKA Weekly and L`Oreal & UNESCO For Women in Science.
Magdalena Król gained experience at many international institutions, participating in numerous internships and training programs, including at Harvard University (USA), Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (USA), Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands), and Sapienza University of Rome (Italy).
mgr Emilia Górka
Lab Manager
Emilia has been working in our team since 2015. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Laboratory Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw. She is currently employed at the Center for Cellular Immunotherapy at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences as a scientific and technical specialist. She is responsible for purchasing laboratory equipment and materials, ensuring that our research team has all the necessary resources for efficient work.
mgr Jakub Jarząbek
Administrative Specialist
Jakub has been working in our team since 2021. He graduated in European Studies from the University of Warsaw. He is currently employed at the Center for Cellular Immunotherapy as an administrative specialist. He is responsible for preparing documents in accordance with university procedures, such as public procurement, purchasing plans, financial documents, as well as assistance in hiring employees for the department.
dr Paulina Kucharzewska-Siembieda
Assistant Professor
Paulina obtained her PhD in experimental oncology in 2014 from Lund University, Sweden. Later (2014-2017) she obtained a postdoc position at AstraZeneca (Gothenburg, Sweden) in the biotechnology unit iMED RIA (Respiratory, Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases). She joined our team in 2017.
dr Bartłomiej Taciak
Assistant Professor
Bartłomiej obtained his PhD in 2019 at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. During his scientific career, he completed many internships at: the Nencki Institute, the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), the University of Edinburgh (Great Britain), Bilkent University (Turkey), and the Sapienza University of Rome (Italy).
dr Jacek Szeliga
Assistant Professor
Jacek obtained a PhD in biological sciences from the University of Lodz. He then began working as an assistant professor at the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology of the University of Lodz, completed a research internship at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz (Germany) at the Institute of Immunology of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, and a postdoctoral internship at the Department of the Biochemical University Health Center in Tyler (USA). After returning to Poland, he worked as a laboratory manager in an accredited microbiological and physicochemical laboratory. Since 2008, he has been associated with the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
dr Małgorzata Kubiak
Assistant Professor
Małgorzata holds an MSc in Genetics and Molecular Medicine from the University of Edinburgh, completed in 2017. SShe was a PhD student in the ERC project “Entrapment of hypoxic cancer by macrophages loaded with HAP”. She defended her PhD thesis in October 2023. She also gained research experience in the field of autoimmune diseases, osteoarthritis and molecular biotechnology during her previous positions in various institutions.
dr Piotr Hańczyc
Assistant Professor
Piotr works at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. He obtained his PhD in chemistry at Chalmers Tekniska Högskola in Sweden and at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. He completed his postdoctoral internship at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He specializes in spectroscopic research on the structure of proteins, nucleic acids and their interactions with organic molecules.
He is the head of numerous research projects financed by the European Commission, the Swedish Ministry of Science and the National Science Center. He is a laureate of scholarships from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Foundation for Polish Science.
His scientific interests focus on developing optical techniques for detecting structural changes in biomolecules, which are of key importance in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and cancers.
lek. wet. Irena Padzińska-Pruszyńska
University Assistant
Irena is a research and teaching assistant at the Center for Cellular
Immunotherapy at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. She is also a
PhD student at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Warsaw
University of Life Sciences. Additionally, she works as an oncologist at
the Animal Clinic Medicine of Michał Trzebiatowski.
dr Małgorzata Górczak
University Assistant
Małgorzata specializes in automated cell cultures, flow cytometry, RT-PCR, immunobiological techniques, cell transfection, Western Blot and optical microscopy. She was a PhD student in the ERC project “Entrapment of hypoxic cancer by macrophages loaded with HAP”. During her master’s studies at the Gdańsk University of Technology, she studied the cellular response and changes in the cell cycle induced by selected acridine derivatives in cancer cells. In 2023, she defended her doctoral thesis.
dr Monika Prill
Postdoc
Monika is a graduate of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, where she completed her master’s degree in molecular biology. Then she completed a one-year internship in the in vitro laboratory of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn. She completed her PhD at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, where she studied the role of one of the proteins associated with oxidative stress in the aspect of metabolism and physiology of mitochondria in human breast cancer cells. She joined our team in December 2023, taking up the position of postdoc in a project related to the influence of ferroptotic cancer cells on the tumor microenvironment.
mgr Anna Smolarska
University Assistant
Anna is a graduate of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdańsk and the Medical University of Gdańsk. She joined our team in 2019 and has been working on a PhD project since 2021. Anna’s research focuses on ferroptosis in the tumor microenvironment. She is a member of the PhD Students’ Self-Government and the Doctoral Students’ Rights Ombudsman at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
mgr Julia Nowakowska
PhD Student
Julia is a PhD student at the SGGW Cellular Immunotherapy Center, has over five years of laboratory experience in microbiology and cancer biology. Her research focuses on the use of macrophages in the therapy of glioblastoma, as part of a prestigious ERC project. She graduated in biotechnology at SGGW, gaining experience at Polpharma Biologics and Medical Laboratory Cellis, as well as during internships at IHiT and the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences.