ICTER

He started his research career at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where he earned his Master’s degree, and later doc toral degree and habilitation (at the Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics). He was a research fellow at the University of Vienna in Austria and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA. Prof. Wojtkowski heads the Department of Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Professor Wojtkowski has authored more than 160 research publications and dozen-odd patents and patent applications. He has designed the tomography scanner used for the non-invasive and contactless examination of the inside of the eye, for which he received the Foundation for Polish Science Award in the field of mathematical, physical and engineering sciences. The scanner prototypes developed by Professor Wojtkowski became a blueprint for many devices currently used in ophthalmology clinics across the world.

He earned his Master’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Wrocław, and his doctoral degree at the Wrocław University of Tech nology. He is an internationally renowned authority on the biochemistry of vision. Professor Palczewski worked at the University of Florida in Gainesville, USA, and the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, USA, where he established his own laboratory. He spent 13 years as a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, where he also served in managerial roles. Professor Palczewski was the head of the Department of Pharmacology at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, USA. He is currently employed with the University of California Medical School in Irivine, USA. His most notable accomplishments include the crystalisation and description of rhodopsin structure and function, and the discovery of the mechanisms underlying retinal degeneration and the associated loss of vision, for which he received the Foundation for Polish Science Award in the field of life and Earth sciences. Prof. Palczewski is a foreign member of the Polish Academy of Learning.