When will therapeutic vaccines against immunogenic cancers be developed? How far does the Baltic Sea reach? How do you manage digital hygiene - your own and your children's? University of Gdańsk researchers are looking for answers to these questions, and in recent weeks their research has attracted considerable interest from journalists. Here are some conversations with our researchers on important current topics that pose challenges for the future (original interviews available only in Polish):
Practical Medicine - Looking for the Holy Grail among antigens
We invite you to read an interview with prof. dr hab. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska, conducted by editor Jerzy Dziekoński. The Director of the International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science talks about the future of medicine and ways to fight cancer.
‘We have not yet discovered antigens that would be unique to a tumour and at the same time be repeated in tumours from different patients. We like to take shortcuts, so we are looking for the Holy Grail, an antigen that is different from our own antigens but found in all types of cancer or at least in one, such as lung cancer or melanoma. Perhaps we will never find such a thing, or maybe there is a rule that we just don't see yet. I think we should first focus on personalised vaccines to find something that distinguishes a particular cancer,’ says prof. dr hab. Natalia Marek Trzonkowska.
Trójmiasto.pl - Young scientists from Tricity. Dr Weronika Babińska-Wensierska dived in search of bacteria
Dr Weronika Babińska-Wensierska talks about her underwater adventures in search for bacteria, her approach to scientific work, and the combination of computer science and biology as part of the series Young Scientists from Tricity. The interview was conducted by the editor Piotr Kallalas.
‘The worst deadline is the one I set myself. The world won't collapse if I don't do something, but it stresses me out if it doesn't work out. There are a lot of ideas, but there are only 24 hours in a day, which I regret every day,’ says the young researcher. ‘I would like to further develop myself in terms of new analytical tools. I enjoy learning, exploring new things and that's the cool thing about science.’
Radio Gdańsk - Everyone has their own digital world. How was, how is, and how will it be?
source: PTEM
Can educational techniques keep up with the dynamic world of social media? In the programme ‘World of New Media’, dr Grzegorz Stunża, President of the Board of the Polish Media Education Association, talked about digital hygiene in a conversation with editor Filip Jędruch.
‘For many years I defended myself against the term cyber hygiene, because I believed that if we prepare ourselves adequately for the media, we don't need additional time-wasting measures,’ says dr Grzegorz Stunża. ‘But today, as I look at the results of research and work with young people at university, I know that the implementation of certain principles is needed. The situation is difficult because our world is digitally intertwined.’
Trójmiasto.pl - What is it like working and living on a research ship? ‘We sail as the powerhouse of the Polish research fleet’.
After over a month's expedition of the UG research vessel beyond the northern Arctic Circle, dr Justyna Kobos talks about the life, work and reality of a multi-week research cruise. In an interview with editor Piotr Kallalas, the researcher talks about the creatures she met along the way, the repeated sampling, and her collaboration with novelist Zygmunt Miłoszewski.
'Our voyage was interdisciplinary, not only were there representatives of various European research institutions on board r/v Oceanograf UG, but we also conducted multiple analyses covering marine physics, chemical composition or biological research,' says dr Justyna Kobos. ‘Interestingly, we sailed as the powerhouse of the Polish research fleet, as we were also accompanied by scientists onboard the Oceania of PAS. The same research was done on two ships, we closer to the coastline, they closer to the continental shelf. We sailed together, from Bergen to Bodø in Norway, then Oceania headed further into the Arctic and we were on our way back.’