20 May 2022 – In the early 1990s, Marta Miączyńska travelled from Poland to the UK to take part in a student exchange programme. “The excitement I felt running experiments in the wonderfully-equipped laboratories convinced me to become a scientist,” recalls Miączyńska. Opportunities in Poland were limited, but fast forward three decades, she says the landscape has changed dramatically: “The life science sector in Poland is really going places. Motivated young researchers can flourish: there are lots of grant opportunities, modern equipment, and great working conditions in many institutions. People who take the chance to come here don’t regret the decision.”
Miączyńska’s research focuses on the roles of cellular proteins in transporting different components into and out of the cell. “My team studies fundamental mechanisms, but also how aberrations could become therapeutic targets,” she says. “We want to identify the Achilles’ heel of cancer cells so that other researchers and companies can take drug development to the next level.”
EMBO has been a regular part of Miączyńska’s work: she has organized and attended scientific events and seen firsthand the benefits of the EMBO Programmes on the careers of researchers at IIMCB. “EMBO has connected me to a broader community of great scientists and provides wonderful interactions with people on the strategic level,” she adds. “The EMBO Programmes have a tremendous impact, and I hope researchers in countries currently underrepresented in the life sciences will keep discovering them.”
