Prof. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland). In 2010 she defended her PhD thesis with distinctions at the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical University of Gdańsk. In 2013 she was conferred the PhD hab. (Associate Professor) degree and in 2019 the degree of Professor of Medical Sciences. She has co-authored the first clinical therapy using autologous regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs). She completed her postdoctoral internship at the University of Chicago (USA), partly within the scholarship from the Kosciuszko Foundation and the Polish-American Medical Society (PAMS).

THE SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The research conducted by Prof. Marek-Trzonkowska’s team is primarily focused on developing a new adoptive cell therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), along with design and therapeutic applications of new molecules which exhibit a potentiating effect on the cytotoxic activity of anti-cancer cells. Moreover, the group concentrates on analysing the mechanisms of general immmunotolerance and immune response against SARS-CoV-2 virus antigens. Together with the Chemical Biology Group, research aimed at acquisition and therapeutic use of peptides presented by MHC is also conducted.