Dr Aleksandra Markiewicz from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of UG and MUG received the Professor Wacław Szybalski award of the Polish Academy of Sciences' Biotechnology Committee for the best research published in 2019.

Professor Wacław Szybalski awards of the Biotechnology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences honour the best biotechnology research conducted in a Polish laboratory and published in the year preceding the competition edition in an indexed national or international journal. The paper must be affiliated with a Polish research institution, and the first or corresponding author must be a Polish scientist aged up to 35.

The 2019 publication awarded in the competition is entitled "Spectrum of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Phenotypes in Circulating Tumour Cells from Early Breast Cancer Patients". Its principal author is dr Aleksandra Markiewicz from the team of dr hab. Anna Żaczek, prof. MUG, from the Department of Translational Oncology of MWB UG and MUG. The paper was co-authored by Justyna Topa, Anna Nagel, Jarosław Skokowski, Barbara Seroczynska, Tomasz Stokowy, Marzena Welnicka-Jaskiewicz, Anna J Żaczek.

‘The paper presents the molecular characterization of circulating tumour cells from breast cancer patients and demonstrates the clinical significance of the particularly aggressive mesenchymal phenotype of circulating tumour cells in early breast cancer patients. We show that not only the number but also the epithelial-mesenchymal profile of circulating tumour cells is an important prognostic factor’ says dr Markiewicz.

The award aims to promote young scientists who publish the results of their research in renowned international journals. In the 2020 edition, bonus features included publishing in the most outstanding scientific journals and application-oriented findings.

Translation: Wioleta Karwacka