Andrzej Foik, PhD
Habilitation degree in biological sciences, the Nencki Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
OBi Group Leader
Molecular and Cell Biology, Genetics, In Vivo and In Vitro Electrophysiology (single-unit and field potential recordings), Biotechnology (Protein Purification, Protein Design, and Expression, Microbiology, Vector Design), Data Analysis
Description
Andrzej Foik, PhD hab., is experienced in molecular and cell biology, genetics, in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology at the network and single-cell levels, data analysis, and computer programming. His scientific pathway began at the Department of Protein Biosynthesis of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, where he defended his master thesis. He received further scientific training at the Department of Molecular Biology in the Centre of Oncology – Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute.
He attained a PhD degree in neurophysiology at the Laboratory of Neurobiology of Vision at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw. Prior to taking the lead of the Ophthalmic Biology Group, he pursued scientific studies as a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology of the University of California, Irvine, USA (2015 – 2020). In June 2024 Dr. Foik has been awarded his habilitation degree in biological sciences, by the Nencki Institute’s Scientific Council.
Publication list
- „Retinal polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation reverses aging-related vision decline in mice”. Gao F., Tom E, Rydz C., Cho W., Kolesnikov A.V., Sha Y., Papadam A., Jafari S., Joseph A., Ahanchi A., Balalaei Someh Saraei N., Lyon D.C., Foik A., Nie Q., Grassmann F., Kefalov V.J., Skowronska-Krawczyk D. (2025). Science Translational Medicine https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40991728/99. (opens in new tab)
- „Comparison of Physiological Brain Responses Evoked byVisual and Electrical Stimulation”. Kordecka K, Kublik E, Foik AT (2025). Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40310627 (opens in new tab)
- „Photopic flicker optoretinography captures the light-driven length modulation of photoreceptors during phototransduction”. S. Tomczewski, A. Curatolo, A. Foik, P. Węgrzyn, B. Bałamut, M. Wielgo, W. Kulesza, A. Galińska, K. Kordecka, S. Gulati, H. Fernandes, K. Palczewski, M. Wojtkowski (2025). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 10.1073/pnas.2421722122 (opens in new tab)
- „Safer and efficient base editing and prime editing via ribonucleoproteins delivered through optimized lipid-nanoparticle formulations”. Hołubowicz R, Du SW, Felgner J, Smidak R, Choi EH, Palczewska G, Menezes CR, Dong Z, Gao F, Medani O, Yan AL, Hołubowicz MW, Chen PZ, Bassetto M, Risaliti E, Salom D, Workman JN, Kiser PD, Foik AT, Lyon DC, Newby GA, Liu DR, Felgner PL, Palczewski K. (2024). Nature Biomedical Engineering https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39609561 (opens in new tab)
- „In vivo volumetric analysis of retinal vascular hemodynamics in mice with spatio-temporal optical coherence tomography”. Piotr Węgrzyn, Wiktor Kulesza, Maciej Wielgo, Sławomir Tomczewski, Anna Galińska, Bartłomiej Bałamut, Katarzyna Kordecka, Onur Cetinkaya, Andrzej Foik, Robert J. Zawadzki, Dawid Borycki, Maciej Wojtkowski, Andrea Curatolo (2024). STAR Protocols 10.1117/1.NPh.11.4.045003 (opens in new tab)
- „A combination treatment based on drug repurposing demonstrates mutation-agnostic efficacy in pre-clinical retinopathy models”. Leinonen H, Zhang J, Occelli LM, Seemab U, Choi EH, L P Marinho LF, Querubin J, Kolesnikov AV, Galinska A, Kordecka K, Hoang T, Lewandowski D, Lee TT, Einstein EE, Einstein DE, Dong Z, Kiser PD, Blackshaw S, Kefalov VJ, Tabaka M, Foik A, Petersen-Jones SM, Palczewski K. (2024). Nature Communications https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39009597 (opens in new tab)
- „Distinct mouse models of Stargardt disease display differences in pharmacological targeting of ceramides and inflammatory responses,”. Zachary J. Engfer, Dominik Lewandowski, Zhiqian Dong, Grazyna Palczewska, Jianye Zhang, Katarzyna Kordecka, Jagoda Płaczkiewicz, Damian Panas, Andrzej T. Foik, Marcin Tabaka, Krzysztof Palczewski, (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 10.1073/pnas.2314698120 (opens in new tab)
- „Spatio-temporal optical coherence tomography (STOC-T) focal plane adjustment in the mouse retina aided by a fundus camera”. W. Kulesza, K. Łuczkiewicz, P. Węgrzyn, S. Tomczewski, D. Borycki, P. Ciąćka, O. Cetinkaya, M. Wielgo, K. Kordecka, A. Galińska, E. Auksorius, A. Foik, R. Zawadzki, M. Wojtkowski, and A. Curatolo (2023). SPIE Proceedings 10.1117/12.2652956 (opens in new tab)
- „High-speed, in vivo, volumetric imaging of mouse retinal tissue with spatio-temporal optical coherence tomography (STOC-T)”. P. Wegrzyn, S. Tomczewski, D. Borycki, W. Kulesza, M. Wielgo, K. Kordecka, A. Galińska, O. Cetinkaya, P. Ciąćka, E. Auksorius, A. Foik, R. Zawadzki, M. Wojtkowski, and A. Curatolo (2023). SPIE Proceedings 10.1117/12.2648893 (opens in new tab)
- „Stress induced aging in mouse eye.”. Xu Q, Rydz C, Nguyen Huu VA, Rocha L, Palomino La Torre C, Lee I, Cho W, Jabari M, Donello J, Lyon DC, Brooke RT, Horvath S, Weinreb RN, Ju WK, Foik A, Skowronska-Krawczyk D. (2022). Aging Cell 10.1111/acel.13737 (opens in new tab)
- „Visual System Hyperexcitability and Compromised V1 Receptive Field Properties in Early-Stage Retinitis Pigmentosa in Mice.”. Leinonen, H., Lyon, D.C., Palczewski, K., and Foik, A.T. (2022). eNeuro 10.1523/ENEURO.0107-22.2022 (opens in new tab)
- „In vivo base editing rescues cone photoreceptors in a mouse model of early-onset inherited retinal degeneration.”. Choi, E.H., Suh, S., Foik, A.T., Leinonen, H., Newby, G.A., Gao, X.D., Banskota, S., Hoang, T., Du, S.W., Dong, Z., et al. (2022). Nature Communications 10.1038/s41467-022-29490-3 (opens in new tab)
- „Inhibition of ceramide accumulation in AdipoR1–/– mice increases photoreceptor survival and improves vision”. Dominik Lewandowski, Andrzej T. Foik, Roman Smidak, Elliot H. Choi, Jianye Zhang, Thanh Hoang, Aleksander Tworak, Susie Suh, Henri Leinonen, Zhiqian Dong, Antonio F.M. Pinto, Emily Tom, Jennings Luu, Joan Lee, Xiuli Ma, Erhard Bieberich, Seth Blackshaw, Alan Saghatelian, David C. Lyon, Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, Marcin Tabaka, and Krzysztof Palczewski (2022). JCI Insight 10.1172/jci.insight.156301 (opens in new tab)
- „Traumatic brain injury to primary visual cortex produces long-lasting circuit dysfunction”. Frankowski, J.C., Foik, A.T., Tierno, A., Machhor, J.R., Lyon, D.C., and Hunt, R.F. (2021). Communications Biology 10.1038/s42003-021-02808-5 (opens in new tab)
- „Restoration of visual function in adult mice with an inherited retinal disease via adenine base editing”. Susie Suh, Elliot Choi, Henri Leinonen, Andrzej Foik, Gregory Newby, Wei-Hsi Yeh, Zhiqian Dong, Philip Kiser, David Lyon, David Liu and Krzysztof Palczewski (2020). Nature Biomedical Engineering 10.1038/s41551-020-00632-6 (opens in new tab)
- „Cortical Inactivation Does Not Block Response Enhancement in the Superior Colliculus”. Katarzyna Kordecka, Andrzej Foik, Agnieszka Wierzbicka and Wioletta Waleszczyk (2020). Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 10.3389/fnsys.2020.00059 (opens in new tab)
Research projects
Research groups
We use electrophysiology for investigating the system of local and distant communication between populations of neurons responsible for information processing.
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