Category: Research staff

Patricio Espinoza Guevara, MSc

University Degree:

Electronic, Telecommunication and Network Engineer, Polytechnic of Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Ecuador; Master’s in Photonics from the Warsaw University of Technology

Position at ICTER:

Specialist

Research Areas:

Physical optics, two-photon vision, terahertz radiation

He pursued his Master’s studies remotely during the pandemic at the Universidad de la Rioja (UNIR) in Spain, earning a degree in Educational Technologies and Digital Skills. Afterwards, he continued his education in Poland, obtaining a Master’s in Photonics from the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT). Patricio also worked as a technical professor at his alma mater in Ecuador (ESPOCH) and taught Spanish and English in Poland while completing his Master’s degree.

His hobbies are photography, edition of videos and photos, read books, box, mixed martial arts, professional dancer and he is a scout.

Patricio joined ICTER, the Physical Optics and Biophotonics (POB) group as a Specialist in October, 2024, where he is involved in the project “Observation of the visual cycle in vivo using fluorescence with two-photon excitation”.

Joanna Bem, PhD

University Degree:

PhD in Biology degree from the University of Warsaw

Position at ICTER:

Post-doc

Research Areas:

epigenetics, transcriptional regulation and cellular differentiation

E-mail: jbem@ichf.edu.pl
Researcher's ORCID Id: 0000-0001-8532-9363

Postdoctoral fellow at the Computational Genomics Group (CGG) led by Dr. Marcin Tabaka, and coordinated by Dr. Lidia Wolińska-Nizioł. Since July 2024, Joanna is involved in the Weave-UNISONO bilateral research project funded by the NCN (National Science Centre) in cooperation with the SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation). In a joint project with Prof. Alfred Zippelius and Dr. Karen Dixon (Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel) she will employ multimodal single cell mapping to elucidate the role that immune system plays in cancer.

Joanna graduated from the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology in 2010. There, her fascination with epigenetics and development has started. She obtained her PhD degree at the University of Warsaw in 2018, she was involved in a project investigating the role of miRNAs in stem cells’ differentiation. During a post-doc fellowship at the Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw she focused specifically on transcriptional regulation, and 3D chromatin structure in terminal neuronal differentiation. Later she joined the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines, where she was engaged in research on the transcriptional memory. Dr. Joanna Bem is an author or co-author of 6 original papers, 2 reviews publications and also contributed to 2 patents. During her scientific career she led one scientific project founded by NCN and several intramural-microgrants.

During free time, Joanna enjoys gardening and creating ceramic pottery.

Kamil Krawczyński, PhD

University Degree:

Master’s degree from the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, PhD degree at the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research PAS (2013)

Position at ICTER:

Research Specialist

Research Areas:

non-coding RNA, neuro-oncology, epigenetics

E-mail: kkrawczynski@ichf.edu.pl
Scopus Profile: 37037711800
Researcher's ORCID Id: 0000-0001-5336-7525

During his Master’s studies, Kamil Krawczyński completed a 6 months Erasmus Program scholarship at the University of Trieste, Italy. After the doctoral studies, he continued his research career as postdoctoral fellow at the Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, USA. Later he returned to Poland and worked at Mossakowski Medical Research Institute PAS in Warsaw. His main research focus is non-coding RNA, including microRNA and using diverse molecular biology techniques he has investigated their role in the epigenetic and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression.

He is a co-author of 14 scientific papers. During his scientific career he led 1 scientific project, he was also awarded by the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education Scholarship for outstanding young scientists.

In August 2024, Dr. Krawczyński joined the Computational Genomics Group at ICTER as a research specialist, where he is involved in the realization of the SONATA BIS 12 project aimed at developing methods for multimodal profiling at single cell resolution.

The photo of Dr. Kamil Krawczyński was taken by Dr. Karol Karnowski.

Jan Klajnert, MSc

University Degree:

MSc degree in Biotechnology at the Medical University of Łódź in 2020.

Position at ICTER:

Technical Specialist

He joined the Computational Genomics Group (CGG) in 2024 in the role of Technical Specialist. Jan Klajnert supports the CGG team in the NDS project, and is involved in research on improving the protocol for processing paraffin-embedded samples and SHARE-seq. In science, he is interested in learning new molecular biology techniques. Jan Klajnert plans to start a PhD on Microbiome Analysis, under the supervision of Dr. Marcin Tabaka.

Jan’s MSc thesis was devoted to the dynamic regulation of the oncogene amplicons number in primary in vitro cultures of glioblastoma cells. Over the following years, he participated in commercial projects aimed at innovative approaches to isolating bacteria from animal samples (with particular emphasis on aquatic pathogens), and developing diagnostic processes based on biochemical and genetic techniques. He worked 4 years at Proteon Pharmaceuticals.

After work, Jan likes to relax by playing strategy games, he is also interested in developing his knowledge of physics.

Aleksandra Kornacka-Stackonis, PhD

University Degree:

PhD degree in Biology (2021), Witold Stefanski Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences.

Position at ICTER:

Post-doc

Dr. Kornacka-Stackonis has worked at the Institute of Parasitology Polish Academy of Sciences for most of her career. Her doctoral research mainly focused on detecting parasites in wildlife using both immunological and molecular methods. She has held two projects for young scientists funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. She has been a member of the Polish Parasitological Association since 2013 and authored or co-authored 19 articles from the JCR list, as well as many abstracts.

Since April 2024, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Computational Genomics group as part of the Sonata bis 12 grant, working on next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflow for single-cell analysis. She is passionate about baking and running.

Prof. Dr. hab. Maciej Wojtkowski

University Degree:

Professor of Physics (2003), habilitation in Physics (2010) at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland

Position at ICTER:

ICTER Chair and POB Group Leader

Research Areas:

Biomedical Imaging

Prof. Maciej Wojtkowski, born in 1975, is a physicist with a distinguished career in applied optics, medical physics, and experimental physics. He began his scientific journey at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where he earned his MSc, PhD, and Habilitation degrees in Physics. His early research included international appointments as a researcher at the University of Vienna and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Tufts New England Eye Center in Boston, USA.

Prof. Wojtkowski is a pioneer of SdOCT

Prof. Wojtkowski is one of the pioneers in the development of the spectral domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SdOCT), also known as the Fourier domain OCT method. He is a key inventor of the first prototype clinical SdOCT device for eye imaging, which revolutionized the non-invasive diagnosis of eye diseases. This device was developed at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland, becoming a standard tool in ophthalmology clinics worldwide.

Prof. Wojtkowski, together with Prof. Rainer Leitgeb and Prof. Johannes De Boer, has played a leading role in the development of SdOCT. His main achievements are related to the translation of the method into ophthalmic practice. In 2000, Prof. Wojtkowski was the first in the world to build a laboratory system for SdOCT eye imaging at Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) in Toruń. Together with Prof. Leitgeb, they demonstrated the first retinal imaging results in 2002, published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO). The method described in this publication became the foundation for OCT device design.

In 2003, Prof. Wojtkowski achieved a major breakthrough by experimentally demonstrating SdOCT retinal imaging with an acquisition time of 64 microseconds (~15kHz), providing the world’s first experimental evidence that SdOCT enables safe in vivo retinal imaging more than 50 times faster than standard time-domain OCT, with comparable sensitivity and sample illumination. With this work, he opened up previously unattainable possibilities for 3-D imaging of the eye. 

The same year, he conducted pioneering experiments demonstrating high-resolution 3-micron imaging of the retina and cornea using supercontinuum light generated in a photonic optical fiber, with the first examples of 3-D imaging published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology in 2004 after rejection in Nature Medicine in 2003.

During his time at MIT (2003-2005), Prof. Wojtkowski further advanced OCT by demonstrating high-quality 3-D imaging of the human retina and cornea, introducing retinal morphometric analysis based on a raster measurement protocol, which has since become the gold standard in ophthalmic diagnostics and is used in all current clinical devices. His team at NCU also introduced the use of SdOCT for imaging corneal disorders. Prof. Wojtkowski developed the first three clinical SdOCT devices for ophthalmic imaging, which were tested at Tufts New England Eye Center, Boston USA,

Jurasz Hospital in Bydgoszcz, Poland and UPMC in Pittsburgh, USA enabling clinical validation and subsequent commercialization of SdOCT method. In addition, Prof. Wojtkowski and his team at NCU made significant contributions to OCT angiography, Doppler imaging, speckle contrast reduction, and quantitative methods for SdOCT data analysis.

In 2019, his team at International Centre for Translational Eye Research (ICTER) Warsaw, Poland introduced the spatio-temporal OCT method, extending OCT’s functionality to include flicker optoretinography and high-resolution imaging of the chorio-retinal complex.

Advancing Two-photon Vision and Two-photon Imaging

Prof. Wojtkowski also made groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of two-photon vision. In 2014, he led a study that illuminated the phenomenon of two-photon vision, proving the role of two-photon absorption in the isomerization of retinal pigments that cause visual sensations. In 2021, he and his colleagues achieved another milestone by presenting the first-ever images of the human retina measured with two-photon excited fluorescence in vivo.

Prof. Wojtkowski’s scientific leadership

Since 2016, Prof. Wojtkowski has headed the Department of Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS). In 2019, he co-founded the International Center for Translational Eye Research (ICTER), a part of IPC PAS, furthering his vision of integrating physics and biomedical research to advance eye health.

ICTER focuses on cutting-edge translational research in vision science, combining fundamental science with clinical applications. Under Prof. Wojtkowski’s leadership, ICTER has achieved significant milestones, including winning the prestigious Horizon Europe Teaming for Excellence grant in 2024. It is also a two-time recipient of the International Research Agendas Programme (IRAP) grant from the Foundation for Polish Science, solidifying ICTER’s role as a global leader in ophthalmological research and innovation.

Papers, patents and commercialization

Prof. Wojtkowski has more than 240 scientific publications and numerous patents to his credit, and his work is regularly published in leading journals. His research has earned him over 8,000 citations and widespread recognition, including fellowships in prestigious societies such as the Optical Society of America. In addition to his academic and research achievements, Prof. Wojtkowski’s entrepreneurial spirit is reflected in his role as the founder and former CEO of the biomedical spin-out company AM2M, and currently the co-founder of the In Cell Vu. His contributions to science, from pioneering OCT technology to his leadership at ICTER, continue to shape the future of medical imaging and translational research.

Bartłomiej Bałamut, MSc

University Degree:

Master of Science in Biotechnology, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland

Position at ICTER:

PhD Student

Research Areas:

Molecular Biology and Genetics

PhD student, his main responsibility is research with the use of in vitro electrophysiological recordings. He also performs experiments in the area of molecular biology and genetics.

Mehdi Borjkhani, PhD

University Degree:

PhD, University of Teheran in Iran,  Tehran Polytechnic in Iran

Position at ICTER:

Post-doc

Research Areas:

Neuronal Nets

Postdoctoral fellow, his research activity includes modeling the neuronal nets created from a multitude of different neuronal populations and data analysis.