We are delighted to announce a significant success for our scientists in the recently concluded competitions organized by the National Science Centre (NCN). In the OPUS 29 and PRELUDIUM 24 calls, projects submitted by researchers from the Jagiellonian University Faculty of Pharmacy have been awarded funding totaling nearly 11 million PLN.

These editions of the competitions attracted record interest, making the competition exceptionally fierce (over 5,000 applications were submitted to the NCN). We are particularly proud that representatives of our Faculty constitute the largest group among the winners from Jagiellonian University Medical College (UJ CM).

Winners from the Faculty of Pharmacy (OPUS 29):

• Dr. hab. Katarzyna Marzec – “Vibrational spectroscopy in the biochemical analysis of post-stroke clots – innovative technology for a better understanding of the etiology of ischemic stroke (CLOT-ID).” (5,048,970 PLN)

• Dr. Michał Abram – “Compounds with a dual mechanism of action modulating EAAT2 and Kv7.2/3 channels: a rational WF strategy.” (2,990,873 PLN)

• Dr. Jakub Szlęk – “Analysis of multiphase transformations of secondary atmospheric aerosols using machine learning.” Project carried out in a consortium with the University of Warsaw, Principal Investigator: Prof. Tomasz Jan Gierczak. (2,388,750 PLN)

Winners from the Faculty of Pharmacy (PRELUDIUM 24):

• Michał Kamiński, MSc – “Dual 5-HT6/5-HT7 receptor antagonists: in search of beneficial effects in the therapy of neurodegenerative diseases.” (209,962 PLN)

• Katarzyna Szafrańska, MSc – “Disrupting the toxic dialogue of NMDAR/TRPM4 proteins as a new strategy for neuroprotection: development of small-molecule protein-protein interaction inhibitors in the therapy of ischemic stroke.” (209,960 PLN)

Successes of researchers from other UJ CM units

In total, ten projects from the Jagiellonian University Medical College were selected for funding. Apart from our Faculty, grants were also awarded to researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Health Sciences:

OPUS Competition:

• Prof. Grażyna Jasieńska (Faculty of Health Sciences) – “The puzzle of the estrobolome: Microbial engineering of human estrogen metabolism.” (4,133,934 PLN)

• Dr. Agnieszka Krawczyk (Faculty of Medicine) – “Multidirectional analysis of gut microbiome, including virome, archaeome, bacteriome and mycobiome, and genetic and immunological profile in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases – relation to pathogenesis and response to biological treatment.” (3,203,451 PLN)

• Dr. hab. Marzena Lenart (Faculty of Medicine) – “LLT1 as a regulator of immune response and target for dual immunotherapy in colorectal cancer targeting NK cells and T lymphocytes.” (2,412,550 PLN)

PRELUDIUM Competition:

• Adriana Mickiewicz, MSc (Faculty of Health Sciences) – “Communication of physical pain in clinical practice: from subjective experience to intersubjective expression.” (137,250 PLN)

• Kamil Możdżeń, MD (Faculty of Medicine) – “Evaluation of foot deformation in patients with hallux valgus using weight-bearing computed tomography (WBCT): Analysis of selected morphometric parameters.” (124,928 PLN)

We sincerely congratulate all the winners from Collegium Medicum and wish them success in carrying out their ambitious research plans!

Full ranking lists are available on the National Science Centre website: https://www.ncn.gov.pl/konkursy/wyniki