Two scientists from the University of Gdańsk - dr hab. Karolina Pierzynowska, prof. UG, and dr inż. Natalia Majewska - have been honoured with the Polish Academy of Sciences Gdańsk Branch award for young scientists. Prof. Karolina Pierzynowska was recognised for her research on the mechanism of action of genistein in the correction of Huntington's disease symptoms, while dr Natalia Majewska was recognised for her research on the mechanisms of luminescence quenching in materials doped with transition metal ions.
The award of the Gdańsk Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences has been presented since 2016 to doctoral students and researchers who meet the statutory definition of young scientists for original research achievements in the year preceding the submission of the application. Each year, five equal laureates are announced in the following areas:
- humanities and social sciences
- biological and agricultural sciences
- exact sciences and Earth sciences
- technical sciences
- medical sciences
‘I am very pleased that my publication has been recognised,’ said dr hab. Karolina Pierzynowska, prof. UG, winner of the award in the field of biological and agricultural sciences. ‘I conducted the research described in the publication for almost seven years. Moreover, these were the results of the first scientific project I led. The publication concerns the mechanism of action of one of the potential drugs for Huntington's disease. The award will certainly motivate me to continue my research and implementation work!’
The award-winning publication is available at: Correction of symptoms of Huntington disease by genistein through FOXO3-mediated autophagy stimulation - PubMed
Prof. Karolina Pierzynowska works at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk (in the Laboratory of Molecular Neurogenetics).
In the field of exact and earth sciences, the award went to dr Natalia Majewska, assistant professor at the Institute of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, University of Gdańsk.
‘It is a great honour to be among the winners of this prestigious award,’ said dr N. Majewska. ‘It is an important recognition of research into the mechanisms of luminescence quenching in materials doped with transition metal ions. Thanks to the use of photoelectric methods, it has been possible to demonstrate that the formation of holes in the valence band plays a key role in this process, a mechanism that has been overlooked in the literature until now. This discovery not only broadens our knowledge of emission quenching phenomena, but also opens up new directions for the design of optical materials. The systems we have studied can be used as compact and energy-efficient sources of near-infrared (NIR) radiation, e.g. in portable medical diagnostics and food quality monitoring.’
The award-winning publication can be found here: Photoelectric Studies as the Key to Understanding the Nonradiative Processes in Chromium Activated NIR Materials | Journal of the American Chemical Society.
