Dr Ewelina Król from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdańsk and the Medical University of Gdańsk and Iwona Pawliczek from the Professor Krzysztof Skóra Marine Station of the Institute of Oceanography of the University of Gdańsk are ranked among '50 bold women of 2019' in Gazeta Wyborcza's Wysokie Obcasy magazine.
Dr Ewelina Król has been recognized for "her work on innovative vaccines" and Iwona Pawliczka for "protecting the Baltic Sea and fighting for seals and porpoises".
Dr Ewelina Król:
"is working on vaccines against Zika and tick-borne encephalitis viruses." She received this year's scholarship in the 19th edition of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science program for "developing innovative strategies for combating viral infections in humans with particular emphasis on hepatitis C virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus and Zika virus through the use of chemically synthesized therapeutic agents and new-generation vaccines".
Zika virus and tick-borne encephalitis virus belong to the genus of flaviviruses which also includes such dangerous viruses as dengue, yellow fever or West Nile fever virus. They are transmitted to people by mosquitoes, ticks etc. While vaccination is the best way to fight viruses, it is difficult to develop vaccines against flaviviruses because they are similar to each other and appear in similar regions of the world. Antibiotics do not affect them.
Dr Ewelina Król and her team are trying to develop innovative vaccines based on virus-like particles (VLP). They are empty protein capsules - the very "packaging" of the virus without its genetic material. Because there are no VLP- based flavivirus vaccines on the market, the virologist boldly participates in the race for a breakthrough”.
Iwona Pawliczka:
"She says jokingly that she works in the trade union of seals and porpoises who cannot fight for their rights on their own and need representation. Human lobbies for fishermen, tourists and entrepreneurs are active while the Baltic Sea is changing into a sterile, dirty, sad reservoir with a decreasing population of fish and marine mammals which once inhabited it in abundance.
Iwona Pawliczka is the Head of the Professor Krzysztof Marine Station at the University of Gdańsk in Hel. She and her team conduct research on the Baltic species and work towards the protection of many of them. This year, their seal reintroduction program was completed. It was a great success. Until recently, no one had seen them on our shores and today a large colony occupies the sandbank. It can reproduce without the help of the scientists from the Marine Station. From now on the team will only focus on protecting the seals - so if you encounter a sick or injured animal on the beach that needs help, contact the Station.
Iwona Pawliczka now wants to fight for the Baltic porpoise, which is on the red list of endangered species as there are only a few hundred porpoises in the Baltic Sea. She is dreaming of a porpoise aquarium similar to the Hel sealarium, which has been attracting crowds and educating for years. Because the first thing that needs to change is our approach to porpoises. We have to love them, we need to stop believing that they are pests and understand that these beautiful, intelligent mammals are at home in the Baltic Sea”.
Source: Wyborcza.pl
The ranking also lists Olga Tokarczuk, Magdalena Środa, Sonia Bohosiewicz, Martyna Wojciechowska and Agnieszka Holland.
The complete list can be found here.
The Office of the Spokesperson for the University of Gdańsk
translation: Wioleta Karwacka