Aleksandra (Ola) Kołodziejczyk
Team Leader
Ola completed an international first level degree in Biotechnology run by a consortium of European Universities at the University of Perugia. During her studies she trained in the lab of Prof. Fred van Leuven (KU Leuven), Prof. Sir Alan Fersht (MRC LMB, Cambridge) and Prof. Matthias Wilmanns (EMBL). She completed her MSc Degree in Molecular Biosciences, majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Heidelberg. For her thesis she worked on chemotaxis towards bacterial autoinducer in the lab of Prof. Victor Sourjik. In 2012 to pursue her PhD she joined the group of Dr. Sarah Teichmann at EMBL EBI and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and worked in the emerging field of single cell transcriptomics. She focused on technical aspects of the method as well as gaining novel biological insights in T cells and mouse embryonic stem cells. She was awarded by EMBO Long Term Fellowship and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Individual Fellowship to undertake Postdoctoral training at the Weizmann Institute of Science in the group of Prof. Eran Elinav, where she applied her genomics skills to study the role of host-microbiota interactions in liver diseases. She joined IIMCB as a team leader in April 2023 and she is establishing the Laboratory of Cellular Genomics, which employs cutting-edge 'omics technologies to study host-microbiota interactions and gastrointestinal health.
Dr Anna Sobocińska
Hey, I’m Anna and as Lab Manager I make sure that Olab works efficiently and stress-free. My role comes down to making sure everyone has tools to work with and feels catered to. I’m a mediator between the needs and wishes of the Olab team and the rules and deadlines of the Administration. I’m also the person to contact when you’re low on your favourite yellow tips and when the machine doesn’t start. Trying my best to keep our space organized (yay, labels!) and ergonomic, while making sure to implement more green solutions, for example tracking and reducing our SUPs usage or equipping the Olab with energy saving and low carbon footprint solutions.
Dr Krzysztof Szczepaniak
Postdoc
I’m a computational biologist with a wet lab background. I completed my MSc in Biotechnology at the University of Warsaw and my PhD in Biology at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS while working at IIMCB. My PhD and first postdoctoral (CENT, University of Warsaw) projects focused on studying relationships between sequence and structure of coiled-coil protein domains. During my second postdoctoral project (MCB, Jagiellonian University) I studied how bacteriophages exchange modules of their proteins. My primary skills are programming, data processing, and visualization, but I also know my way around the experimental lab. I have experience with various tools for protein structural and sequence analysis and machine learning techniques. In my free time, I enjoy bike trips, books (fantasy, s-f, but also social and economics topics), and all nerdy activities. I’m a D&D DM and an aspiring game developer.
Joanna (Asia) Słota
PhD Student
Asia graduated from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology with BSc in Biotechnology. Her thesis focused on intrinsically disordered proteins and their role in the formation of membrane-less organelles. During her studies, she did an internship in biochemistry lab. She completed her MSc in Bioinformatics at Wrocław University of Science and Technology. In her thesis she tackled the analysis of mass cytometry data from breast cancer patients’ blood cells to identify potential diagnostic targets and she benchmarked different data analysis tools in this area. She joined the Laboratory of Cellular Genomics in May 2023 and she is applying her skills in analyzing single-cell data during her PhD studies. In her research, she wants to use computational analyses to unravel biological principles in context of human physiology and pathology.
Aleksandra Uryga
PhD Student
I’m a PhD student in Olab since October 2023. I graduated the biotechnology Master’s degree in the University of Wrocław. I worked with DNA and nuclear proteins trying to unravel the secrets of replication stress and related DNA repair. For some time I was involved in a project developing the 3D-printed bionic pancreas. I am keen on learning how diet and various habits influence human microbiota, wellness and mental state. In the free time I read a lot of sf and Korean comics.
Julia Świerczyńska
volunteer
Hello, I’m Julia. I’m a first-year biotechnology student at the University of Warsaw. In high school, I had the opportunity to work as an intern at the Biostatistics and Translational Medicine Institute in Łódź, where I engaged in research on microRNA in red wine. During the summer of 2023, I participated in the International Summer School organized by the Weizmann Institute of Science. In this program, I worked on determining the mechanism underlining the inheritance of extrachromosomal DNA in cancer cells. Looking ahead, I plan on double majoring in biotechnology and medical chemistry. In my free time, I love crocheting and reading crime novels.
