Rafał Radosław Starzyński, PhD, DSc

Scientific curriculum vitae.

 

I was born on January 11th, 1976 in Garwolin. In the years 1990–1994 I attended the Garwolin 1st High School of Marshal Józef Piłsudski, to a class with a biological and chemical profile.

            In the years 1996–2001 I studied at the Interfaculty Studies of Biotechnology in the field of biotechnology in the production and protection of animal health at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, SGGW. In June 2001 I defended my master's thesis entitled "The effect of nitric oxide on intracellular iron metabolism" under supervision of dr. Paweł Lipiński.

            In the years 2001–2005 I was a student of a doctoral study at the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences. I completed my doctoral dissertation during my scholarship stays at the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles CNRS in Gif–sur–Yvette and Unité 409 INSERM, and "Génétique et Pathologie Moléculaire de l'Hématopoïèse", Faculté Xavier Bichat in Paris. In November 2005 I defended my doctoral dissertation entitled "Regulation of IRP1 (Iron Regulatory Protein 1) expression by nitric oxide in mammalian cells in vitro", promoted by Professor Lech Zwierzchowski. In 2006 I was employed at the Department of Molecular Biology at the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jastrzębiec as an Assistant Professor. From 2017 I was employed as the Associated Professor at the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jastrzębiec, and after the reform of science from 11^th of October 2020 I was employed as the Professor of the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jastrzębiec. In 2019, I was entrusted with the management of the newly created Laboratory of Cell Culture and Genome Engineering at the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jastrzębiec.

            In the years 2003–2006 I was a scholarship holder of International Union Against Cancer and NATO Collaborative Linkage Grant. In the years 2005–2006 I was a scholarship holder of the Foundation for Polish Science and the ProScientia et Vitae Foundation. In 2010, I was awarded the Scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for outstanding young scientists. Scientific publications with my co–authorship have been awarded, among others by the Polish Genetic Society, Polish Society of Veterinary Sciences, Department II Biological and Agricultural Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Director of IGAB PAS. Together with the Iron Molecular Biology Team which is a part of the Department of Molecular Biology IGAB PAS in Jastrzębiec, I was awarded the Piotr Chomczyński Award. Professor Chomczyński is one of the most estimated Polish researchers.

 

Scientific achievement.

            My scientific achievements include authorship in 197 scientific papers, including 37 original papers, 17 review papers, 5 chapters in monographs and scientific books, 5 popular public articles, 5 entries in the GeneBank database, 38 conference proceedings from JCR list and 86 reports published in conference materials. Most of the work have been published in JCR list journals.

            My main teaching activity is an individual work with students during engineering, bachelor's and master's theses at IGAB PAS. I was the training supervisor of 15 students and PhDs, the promoter of 2 bachelors and 1 master's thesis. I was the promoter of the doctoral dissertation which my PhD student defended with distinction. In 2 doctoral dissertations I was a co–promoter. I am currently a supervisor in 2 doctoral dissertations. My didactic activity mainly due to my affiliation is limited to lectures for PhD students of IGAB PAS and invited lectures for the Faculty of Biotechnology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, SGGW.

            I was the main organizer of 3 conferences and took part in about 80 conferences and scientific symposia, both domestic and foreign, presenting the results of my research.

            During my scientific work, which dates back to the last century, I was the principal investigator of 5 research projects, and in 11 of them an investigator. The scope of my scientific interests and research field is wide, however, it always oscillates around the systemic regulation of iron metabolism and includes the following topics:

 

• Molecular background of mammalian cell susceptibility to oxidative stress and its relationship to iron metabolism;
• Regulation of cellular iron metabolism by nitric oxide;
• Interaction between oxidative stress and systemic iron metabolism;
• Molecular mechanisms of iron absorption in piglets and the role of hepcidin;
• Correction of iron deficiency anemia in newborn domestic pigs based on innovative procedures of iron supplementation with novel iron preparations;
• The role of copper transporters in the regulation of iron metabolism in mice at various periods of postnatal development;
• The molecular basis of interaction between copper and iron metabolism;
• Iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy, premature babies and in the postpartum period.