Dr Magdalena Zdrowowicz-Zamojć was awarded the L'Oreal-UNESCO Prize for Women and Science in the habilitation category for her research in the field of radiation chemistry and radiobiology. 'My dream is to make radiotherapy a more effective and safer treatment method for cancer patients,' said the laureate.

The 23rd L'Oreal-UNESCO Programme for Women and Science Gala was held on November 14. The scholarships awarded support the achievements of female scientists conducting advanced research in the life sciences. They allow them to fund a research project, leisure, or childcare.

‘Women make a huge contribution to science, but their representation in this area is still only 30%. The number of female researchers decreases with the successive stages of their scientific careers. In addition, only 3% of all Nobel Prize winners are women,' said Jury Chairperson prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG and MUG. ‘This year, we have introduced two significant changes. We have increased the amount of money per scholarship: we will award one master scholarship of PLN 25 000, two doctoral scholarships of PLN 35 000 each and three postdoctoral scholarships of PLN 40 000. In addition, we have raised the age limit for female applicants, extending the possibility to apply with a maximum of two years per child.’

Dr Magdalena Zdrowowicz-Zamojć is the co-author of more than thirty scientific publications in high-scoring journals, two chapters in scientific books, three European and national patents and dozens of presentations and speeches at scientific conferences. The jury of the programme For Women and Science recognised her work entitled. 'Radiosensitisation through the combined action of modified nucleosides and DNA repair inhibitors to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy'.

The UG laureate's research concerns radiotherapy, which, alongside chemotherapy and cancer surgery, is currently one of the most effective methods of fighting cancer. More specifically, dr Magdalena Zdrowowicz-Zamojć is concerned with nucleosides, which are chemical compounds that are particularly important in the process of cell regeneration. On top of this, they exhibit radiosensitising properties that sensitise cancer cells to ionising radiation. 

Analysing the changes that occur in complex processes at the DNA level of a molecule and then verifying their activity at the cellular level are the most important elements of dr Magdalena Zdrowowicz-Zamojć's research work.

In this year's edition of the L'Oreal-UNESCO Scholarship Programme for Women and Science, the winners were:

• Natalia Sauer from the Medical University of Wrocław,
• Angelika Andrzejewska-Romanowska from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań,
• Elżbieta Wątor from the Małopolska Biotechnology Centre at the Jagiellonian University
• dr Marta Pacia of the Jagiellonian Centre for Drug Development of the Jagiellonian University
• dr Aleksandra Rutkowska from the Brain Disease Centre of the Medical University of Gdańsk,
• dr Magdalena Zdrowowicz-Żamojć from the Department of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk.