Polish Grantees 2018-19

Home institution: University of Warsaw, Institute of English Studies, Warsaw

Host institution: University of California-Berkeley, Department of English, Berkeley, California

Grant start date: 9/15/2018
Grant end date: 6/15/2019

Field of study: American Literature
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Illness and Healing in Indian Country: Discourses of Health Issues Through an Indigenous Framework”

Joanna Ziarkowska is an assistant professor in the American Literature Section at the Department of Modern Philology, University of Warsaw in Poland, where she teaches Native American literature. Her interests include Native American studies, medical humanities and American ethnic literature. She co-authored and co-edited In Other Words: Dialogizing Race, Ethnicity and Postcoloniality (Peter Lang 2012) and Pisarze pochodzenia indiańskiego: Momaday, Silko, Erdrich, Alexie, Vizenor (WUW 2015). Dr Ziarkowska is currently working on a project concentrating on concepts of illness and healing in Native American literature.

Home institution: National Medicines Institute, Department of Molecular Microbiology, Warsaw

Host institution: Houston Methodist Research Institute, Center for Molecular and Translational Human Infectious Diseases Research, Houston, Texas

Grant start date: 10/1/2018
Grant end date: 6/30/2019

Field of study: Microbiology
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Tracing antibiotic resistance in group A Streptococcus”

Izabela Sitkiewicz started her research at the University of Warsaw where she defended her MSc in Biology in 1996. She received her Ph.D. in 2002 from the IBB PAS. In 2003, she started her postdoctoral training at RML/NIAID/NIH, Hamilton, Montana, USA. She later continued her work at Baylor College of Medicine and later at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, both in Houston, Texas, USA. In 2008, she moved back to Poland, and she started to work at the National Medicines Institute in Warsaw, where she currently holds an associate professor position. In 2012, she defended her postdoctoral dissertation and received a DSc (habilitation) title.

For many years she’s managed the research group at the Department of Molecular Microbiology, National Medicines Institute working on multiple aspects of streptococcal virulence, genomics, transcriptomics, with a special focus on antibiotic resistance. In January 2018, she moved to the Department of Drug Biotechnology and Bioinformatics as a head of the department.

Her current research interests expanded to the role of bacteria in the host response to medications. She collaborates with non-biological groups such as physicists and chemists to conduct multidisciplinary research to develop new tools and diagnostic devices. As a service for the non-scientific community, she talks about bacteria on the radio and TV, covering broad topics and educating lay consumers. She talks about “microbiology of dishcloths” or pathogenic bacteria on the cosmetic testers at department store counters.

Home institution: University of Warsaw, Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw

Host institution: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado

Grant start date: 11/15/2018
Grant end date: 8/15/2019

Field of study: Chemistry
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Aqueous-phase processes as emerging source of the secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in the atmosphere”

Dr Bartłomiej Witkowski is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw in the Atmospheric Chemistry research group. He obtained the degree of doctor of technical sciences in the field of organic and analytical chemistry (2013). He completed his doctoral dissertation as part of the International Doctoral Studies program at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Warsaw, which was financed by the Foundation for Polish Science. During the implementation of his doctoral thesis, he held internships in research centers in the USA. During a research internship in France, he conducted research using a smog chamber within the Eurochamp program financed from EU funds. He is also the recipient of the Scholarship of the Kosciuszko Foundation, under which he participated in a postdoctoral internship in the USA. Currently, he conducts research related to atmospheric chemistry as part of a project financed by the National Science Center. In addition to atmospheric chemistry research, he also uses advanced instrumental analysis techniques to study historic objects.

Home institution: Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital, Research Institute, Clinic of Cardiology, Lodz

Host institution: Children’s Hospital Colorado, Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Denver, Colorado

Grant start date: 9/1/2018
Grant end date: 5/30/2019

Field of study: Medical Sciences
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Improving outcomes of percutaneous Interventions in congenital and acquired heart defects by optimization of there-dimensional guidance”

Dr. Goreczny is an assistant professor at the Department of Cardiology, Polish Mother’s Memorial, Lodz, Poland.He underwent his training in pediatrics and pediatric cardiology at Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital. In 2013 – 2014, he obtained a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) scholarship for Advanced Interventional Fellowship at Evelina London Children’s Hospital & St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, UK. Dr. Goreczny has also participated in clinical training at German Heart Center in Munich and Shizuoka Children’s Hospital in Japan. For several years, Dr. Goreczny has been dedicated to teaching students at Medical University of Lodz. He is the founder and supervisor of students Science Circle for Congenital Heart Disease (SC4CHD, facebook.com/Sc4chd).

His clinical research has been focused, but not limited to, application of three-dimensional (3D) imaging for navigation of percutaneous interventions in congenital heart defects. Since 2010, he has been consistently introducing and developing techniques for 3D guidance for cardiac catheterizations including 3-Dimensional Rotational Angiography (3DRA) and fusion of computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging 3D datasets (Fusion Imaging). In 2015, he introduced the most recent 3D navigation system at Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital, making it the first congenital heart center in the world to benefit from this system. In 2016, he initiated, and has been the primary investigator for the first, prospective, international registry of 3D guided cardiac catheterizations.

During his Fulbright Senior Award scholarship at Colorado Children’s Hospital, Dr. Goreczny is working on advancement of segmentation and registration protocols of pre-catheter imaging for 3D guidance of cardiac catheterizations.
Research profile: researchgate.net/profile/Sebastian_Goreczny2

Home institution: University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Law and Administration, Katowice

Host institution: George Washington University, Law Faculty, Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C.

Grant start date: 9/1/2018
Grant end date: 5/31/2019

Field of study: Law
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “The selected legal instruments of U.S. Public Procurement Regulation. Guidelines for strengthening Polish Economy”

Michał Kania is Professor of Public Law at the Silesian University in Katowice. He teaches public procurement law, public-private partnership and concession law, administration law, public investment law, negotiations in public administration, and project management. He also acts as a legal adviser, MBA, and is the plenipotentiary of the Rector of the Silesian University in Katowice for PPP projects. Michał is also the originator and the first president of the Management Board in Public-Private Partnership Scientific Support Foundation, the originator and the lecturer at Post-Graduate Studies in Public Procurement Law, the head of Post-Graduate Studies in Administration and Management at the Silesian University in Katowice, and the independent advisor for the Polish Government in the public procurement and PPP reform. He has cooperated with legal offices in Katowice and Warsaw since 2005. He is also an author of more than 100 publications related to public law. As a Fulbright Scholar, Michał will be conducting his research at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. titled: The Selected Legal Instruments of U.S. Public Procurement Regulation. His supervisor will be professor Christopher Yukins.

Home institution: Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Warsaw

Host institution: Auburn University, National Center for Asphalt Technologies, Auburn, Alabama

Grant start date: 7/1/2019
Grant end date: 12/31/2019

Field of study: Engineering
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Road Construction”

Karol Kowalski received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2007, and is currently an Associate Professor at Warsaw University of Technology. His main research topics are on materials and technological issues in sustainable road construction. He is the leader of research projects in industry, which are sponsored by both European and National foundations. He conducts research projects on safe, durable, and quiet pavements. His projects are funded by Polish and European companies and EU foundations for science. He also conducts research in the North Central Superpave Center, sponsored by the FHWA, Indiana DOT, Iowa DOT, and industry. In cooperation with construction companies, he works in the area of warranty issues, value engineering, material optimization, and LCA/LCCA.

Karol Kowalski is a member of the Senate of Warsaw University of Technology and is the vice director of the Institute of Roads and Bridges. He is an EU Expert in the area of infrastructure projects and is a member of the road section at the Polish Academy of Science Transportation Research Board and scientific committee of General Directorate for Motorways.

His awards include being a scholar of the Foundation for Polish Science, COST, Polish Ministry of Science (Outstanding Young Scientist 2012-2015) and receiving a scientific award of Warsaw University of Technology.

Home institution: Poznan University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Poznan

Host institution: University of Alabama, Department of Chemistry, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Grant start date: 10/1/2018
Grant end date: 6/30/2019

Field of study: Agricultural sciences
Aim of the grant: Teaching, Research

Project title: “Determining the molecular basis of Cr(VI) mutagenicity & Lectures on Food Toxicology (full academic course)”

Zbigniew Krejpcio, Ph.D. is Professor at the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition of the Poznan University of Life Sciences.
He is the head of Division of Bromatology and Food Toxicology at the Institute of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. He graduated with a degree in chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Poznan University of Technology in 1985, obtained his Ph.D. degree at the Faculty of Food Technology of the Poznan University of Life Sciences in 1994, followed by habilition in 2003 and professorship (scientific title) in 2011.
His scientific interests encompass: food safety, food toxicology, human nutrition, bioaccessibility of food components, supplements, and chromium(III) compounds. He supervised three doctoral theses, coordinated and participated in several research grants financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and completed three projects funded by European Commission (FP5, FP6, FP7). He is a member of scientific associations (e.g. Polish Society of Toxicology, Polish Society of Nutritional Sciences). He has been a Faculty Coordinator of the Erasmus+ program, member of the Editorial Board of Scientific Journals (e.g. Biological Trace Element Research, Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria), and member of the SuSAN Core Group (EUFIC). He is an author and co-author of over 300 scientific publications.
His personal interests include travelling, mountains, and philosophy.

Home institution: University of Silesia in Katowice, Institute of English Cultures and Literatures, Katowice

Host institution: The New School for Social Research, Lang College, New York, New York

Grant start date: 9/1/2018
Grant end date: 5/31/2019

Field of study: Humanities
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Feeling(s) without organs. Love in Contemporary Techno-culture”

Anna Malinowska is an Assistant Professor in Literary and Cultural Studies in the Department of Rhetoric of Culture and the Media, at the Institute of English Cultures and Literatures, University of Silesia, Poland. Her research interests embrace critical theory, popular culture, digital culture, the Robocene, posthumanism, and love studies, but specifically focus on the formation of social and cultural norms under changing semiotic practices. She is a co-editor of Materiality and Popular Culture, The Popular Life of Things (Routledge 2017), and The Materiality of Love. She has also written essays on Affection and Cultural Practice (Routledge 2018), and “Media and Emotions. The New Frontiers of Affect in Digital Culture” (De Gruyter 2017), a special issue of Open Cultural Studies, co-edited with Toby Miller. Malinowska is also a board member of SLSAeu (European Society for Literature Science and the Arts) for Eastern Europe. As a Fulbright Fellow, she will be based at the New School in New York to work on a research project “Feelings Without Organs. Love in Contemporary Technoculture”.

Home institution: Collegium Medicum Medical College Jagiellonian University, Institute of Public Health, Cracow

Host institution: Yale University, Department of Anthropology, New Haven, Connecticut

Grant start date: 4/1/2018
Grant end date: 12/31/2019

Field of study: Biology
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? A study of the relationship between women’s fertility, facial attractiveness, symmetry and perceived health”

Dr. Urszula Marcinkowska-Trimboli graduated from the Biology Department of Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland (2005). She then completed her PhD training in 2009 at Turku University in Finland in the field of Human Evolutionary Biology. Her Ph.D. thesis titled ““Evolution and sources of individual variation in mate preferences in humans” won the award of the best thesis of the academic year. Since 2009, she has been working as a post-doc in the Medical College of Jagiellonian University as Principal Investigator in the project titled “Level of sex hormones and sexual selection – a novel approach to human sexual preferences”, founded by the National Science Centre. Since the beginning of her career, she has been working with human sexual selection, especially with facial cognition and hormonal correlates of sexual preferences and behavior. She has more than 20 publications in international journals with IF, and has been coordinating multiple scientific projects. Since her early years, biology has been her passion and a never-ending source of joy. Her other passion is travel, especially with her intercultural family.

Home institution: University of Wroclaw, Institute of Archaeology, Wroclaw

Host institution: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Arms and Armor, New York, New York

Grant start date: 9/5/2018
Grant end date: 3/5/2019

Field of study: Archaeology
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Emblems, Inscriptions and Enigmas on Medieval European Arms and Armour from North American Collections”

Lech Marek received his doctoral degree (cum laude) in the field of Historical Sciences from the Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences, University of Wrocław (2006). Since 2007, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław. His main research interests include medieval archeology, castellology, and specifically the study of medieval arms and armor.

Home institution: Military University of Technology, Institute of Optoelectronics, Warsaw

Host institution: Purdue University, Birck Nanotechnology Center, West Lafayette, Indiana

Grant start date: 8/1/2018
Grant end date: 4/30/2019

Field of study: Materials Science
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Plasmonic Titanium Nitride Nanostructures for Catalysis”

Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Nyga is an Assistant Professor (Adjunct) at the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology in Warsaw.
He earned his Master of Engineering degree from Military University of Technology and doctorate from Purdue University. During his doctoral studies in the group of professor Vladimir M. Shalaev, he conducted research on fabrication of metal-dielectric plasmonic nanostructures and their laser modification.

Currently, Dr. Nyga is the head of the Thin Films Group at the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology. He conducts research on optical thin film coatings and plasmonic nanostructures for optoelectronics. He is an alumnus of the Top 500 Innovators: Science – Management – Commercialization Program of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. He served as a mentor for the TopMinds – a mentoring and training program for graduate students from Polish universities.

As a Fulbright scholar at Purdue University, Dr. Nyga will study novel plasmonic nanostructures for photonics and photocatalysis.

Home institution: Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Faculty of English, Poznan

Host institution: University of Maryland, Center for Research on Military Organizations, College Park, Maryland

Grant start date: 10/1/2018
Grant end date: 6/30/2019

Field of study: Linguistics
Aim of the grant: Research

Project title: “Gender ideologies and women’s position in the U.S. military: A qualitative discourse analysis”

Joanna Pawelczyk is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of English at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. She specializes in sociolinguistics and discourse analysis. Her main research interests include the relationship between gender and language use, gender ideologies in language and discourse, and communication and discourses of psychotherapy. She is presently a member of the advisory board of the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA). She is the author of “Talk as therapy. Psychotherapy in a linguistic perspective” (2011) published by De Gruyter Mouton and is a co-author of “Gender and Sexuality in English Language Education: Focus on Poland” (2015) published by the British Council. She has published extensively on gender, identity, and psychotherapy in international journals and edited collections.