People

BARTLOMIEJ (BARTEK) WACLAW

Dioscuri Centre Leader

I obtained a PhD in theoretical physics from Jagellonian University in Krakow in 2007 (supervisor: Zdzislaw Burda). After 2 years in Leipzig as a post-doc in Wolfhard Janke’s group, I moved to Edinburgh, first as a postdoc working with Martin Evans, then an independent Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellow. In 2013 was awarded a Scottish Government Personal Research Fellowship co-funded by Marie Curie Actions. Around the same time I was made a proleptic lecturer in the School of Physics and Astronomy. The University of Edinburgh. I was promoted to Reader in 2019.

My early research was in random matrix theory, complex networks, and driven diffusive systems (zero-range process, TASEP, and related models). I then moved to biological physics and worked on various theoretical and experimental projects in microbial evolution and cancer. In particular, I have published on how bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics, how growth and migration affect genetic heterogeneity of tumours, and the growth of bacterial colonies.

KATARZYNA BARTOŁD

Administrative Coordinator

PATRYCJA KUŹMA

Laboratory Manager

ŁUKASZ ZINKIEWICZ

Postdoctoral Researcher

For most of my scientific career, I was associated with the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw. After completing both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees there, I pursued doctoral studies at the Division of Optics, specializing in super-resolution, laser-based 3D printing. My research activities also included measurements of light diffraction efficiency in optical microstructures and the physics of ultrafast lasers, spanning from design and construction to optimization and light emission measurements.

Following the completion of my PhD, I joined the Division of Solid State Physics, where I investigated the optical properties of quantum dots and atomically thin semiconductor structures at cryogenic temperatures and in high magnetic fields. Subsequently, I contributed to the development and construction of a fast and non-invasive stimulated Raman microscope for imaging leukemia cells.

Currently, at the Dioscuri Centre IPC PAS, I am responsible for designing and constructing new optical setups for cell and bacteria characterization. My scientific interests include the creation of optical and microscopic systems, as well as the analysis and visualization of large datasets using the Python programming language.

ILYAS DJAFER-CHERIF

Postdoctoral Researcher

Previous: PASIFIC Postdoctoral Fellow

I am a physicist mainly trained on Active Matter using mainly simulations of microscopic models

During my PhD (2013-2017) in the group of Hugues Chaté in CEA Saclay I studied a generic active matter model for paticles with nematic symmetry at the microscopic level. In parallel I worked on developing a biological model of Neisseria Meningitidis aggregation in collaboration with the group of Guillaume Duménil at Institut Pasteur.

I then worked for my first postdoc at the University of Bristol under the supervision of Silke Henkes (2018- 2020) where I addressed myosin role during convergence-extension of epithelial tissue in the early development of the Chick embryo using an Active Vertex model.

PIOTR CIĄĆKA

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am an experimental physicist turned optical engineer, with experience in both academia and the optics industry. After completing my PhD in femtosecond molecular dynamics, I continued working with ultrashort pulses, focusing my research on areas such as nonlinear fiber optics and multiphoton imaging. My interest in imaging eventually expanded to other modalities, including optical coherence tomography for ophthalmology research.

Never far from a femtosecond laser, I recently joined an ultrafast laser system company as an R&D engineer. Still, the biomedical optics bug had bitten hard, prompting me to return to academia to apply my skills in imaging dynamics of bacteria in epithelial bladder cells.

I am a quantitative biologist, currently on leave from the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPPT PAN) in Warsaw. My research combines mathematical modeling with experimental approaches to unravel the complex dynamics of biological systems, with a particular focus on how cells respond to pathogenic challenges. My primary expertise lies in cellular decision-making within the innate immune response to viral infections. At the Centre, I am exploring host cell-bacteria interactions by means of deep learning-based microscopy image analysis.

ELIN LILJA

Postdoctoral Researcher

Biological evolution of microbes, microbiology & molecular biology

KAROLINA DRABIK

Postdoctoral Researcher

Experimental models of urinary infections

PRAGYESH DIXIT

Postdoctoral Researcher

I work on the role of phenotypic heterogeneity in cancer chemotherapy.

I received my Ph.D. in Life Sciences from National Institute of Science Education and Research Bhubaneswar, India in 2021 (Dr. Asima Bhattacharyya’s lab). My doctoral study focused on the role of post- translational modifications of a protein involved in Helicobacter pylori-mediated gastric cancer. After my Ph.D., I continued as a visiting researcher at Dr. Asima’s lab for a brief duration before moving to Dioscuri.

JAROSŁAW A. PANKOWSKI

Postdoctoral Researcher

My scientific interests are focused primarily on microbial genetics and synthetic biology. I obtained my PhD in 2016 at University of Victoria, Canada. My project was focused primarily on utilizing essential genes from psychrophilic bacteria to generate temperature-sensitive variants of mesophilic microbes. Later, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at University of Nebraska at Lincoln, USA (2016 2018) and University of Warsaw, Poland (2019-2021), where I focused on, respectively. incorporation of non-biogenic amino acids into peptide sequences in Escherichia coli and generation of bacteriophages exhibiting selected peptides on their surface, which act as catalysts for the formation of metal nanoparticles. Additionally, my past experience includes working as a pharmacovigilance specialist in the industry.

KLAUDIA STAŚKIEWICZ

PhD Student

I graduated from Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, and obtained my master’s degree in Biotechnology with major in Molecular Biotechnology (2022). I performed the research for my master thesis at Department of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, under supervision of Tomasz Kamiński (PhD, Eng.), developed and optimized a droplet microfluidic method for passive selection and enrichment of bacteria producing biosurfactants, (POIR.04.04.00-00- 14E6/18). I have been seeking opportunities to apply interdisciplinarity to my education, so before my master studies, I combined biology (BSc in 2020) and chemistry studies. Both bachelors’ theses that I worked on, supported my enthusiasm for crossing disciplines, and standed a chance for me to acquire knowledge about my deepest scientific interest, which is in lichen secondary metabolites and microbiome.

Here in Dioscuri Centre I support Group Members in their routine laboratory work, especially preparation of microfluidic devices, media, lab equipment, plates with medium, experimental samples, but also help in following steps of lab protocols. Feel free to transfer some of your repetitive laboratory work to me.

JOANNA MATERSKA

PhD Student

I have a master’s degree in Applications of Physics in Biology and Medicine, major in Molecular Design and Bioinformatics (2019). As this lengthy title suggests, throughout my studies I had a taste of how the interplay chemistry, physics, molecular biology and programming is employed to aid scientific research.

My responsibilities at Dioscuri Centre are focused on computer modelling of intracellular bacterial colonies. Thus, I am now putting to good use the experience I have managed to gain during two summer internships – at Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Birte Höcker’s group (2015), and at Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique under the supervision of Karin John (2017) – where and when I was tasked with employing programming to assist biology-related research.

Side note: I also have BSc in Physics (2020) and a special fondness for quantum biology and noise-related phenomena in both molecular biology and mesoscopic physics.