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Group Leader Joanna Zawacka, PhD, Associate Professor
Joanna Zawacka-Pankau is an Associate Professor (Docent) in Medical Biotechnology, in the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute and a Group Leader at the Medical University of Warsaw.
She completed her postdoctoral training in p53 tumor biology and targeted therapies in the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute (2005 – 2006).
In 2007, she was awarded the Assistant Professor position at the University of Gdansk. In 2012 she was recruited to the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute as Assitant Professor and Principal Investigator.
Our Research
Our goal is to identify effective, specific, and selective treatments for solid and hematological cancers with TP53 mutations that can be rapidly translated into clinical practice. Towards that goal, we use repurposed drugs shown to reactivate p53 protein family members, compounds reactivating mutant p53 and the standard of care as well as unique pre-clinical models which include primary human cancer cells and humanized mouse models.
Using an interdisciplinary approach we strive to understand the mechanisms by which p53 exerts its tumor suppression function and affects longevity by applying cutting-edge biophysical, biochemical, bioinformatics, and deep learning methods. We hope, in the future, this knowledge could be translated for improved cancer therapy and to modulate physiological aging in humans.
Team MembersDr Qurat Ul Ain Fateh, postdoc
Bahareh Sadat Haeri, PhD student
Former Team Members at Karolinska Institute
Matilde Fregni, Erasmus student
Dr Pilar Acedo, postdoc
Alicja Sznarkowska, visiting PhD student
Anna Kostecka, visiting PhD student
Bahareh received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Sharif University of Technology (Iran) and her master’s degree in biochemistry at California State University, Long Beach (USA). Her master’s thesis was focused on the antimicrobial activity of lipid-bound apoA-I. During her master’s program, she had an opportunity to be a teaching associate. As she loves teaching, she got a faculty position at Long Beach City College where she was responsible for both lecture and laboratory sessions. She also is experienced in working in a pharmaceutical company.
All aforementioned steps plus an inherent desire to develop her research and clinical capabilities propelled her to join Dr. Joanna Zawacka’s group on October 2022 as a doctoral student. Currently, in her doctoral project, she is working on the reactivation of p53 protein family members with repurposed drugs for improved cancer therapy. As the use of these repurposed drugs have already been approved by the FDA for other indications, she believes it might enable a rapid translation of her findings into the clinical testing phase to cure cancer patients.
Qurat Ul Ain Fateh is a Technical and Scientific Specialist-Postdoc at the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland. She received her PhD degree in Chemistry (2019) from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Pakistan and she performed part of her PhD research as a visiting researcher (2018) at MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston TX, USA.
She worked there on Biogenic nano-silver derivatives synthesis and evaluated their anticancer potential alone and combined with DNA-damaging drugs on different human cancer cell lines. She was an Assistant professor at G.C University Faisalabad (GCUF).
She joined Joanna Zawacka-Pankau Lab to identify effective, specific, and selective treatments for NSCLC with TP53 mutation by using repurposed drugs to reactivate p53 protein family members and translate them into clinical practice.
FundingCathrine Everts Forskningsstiftelse 2021;Åke Wibergs stiftelse;National Science Centre, Poland (research grant OPUS 20)
CollaborationProf. Klas Wiman, Karolinska InstitutetProf. Elsa Flores, Moffitt Cancer CenterProf. Patrick Micke, Uppsala University Prof. Katalin Dobra, Karolinska InstituteDr. Andrey Alexeyenko, EviStatDr. Pan Pantziarka, Anticancer FundDr. Gauthier Bouche, Anticancer Fund
CollaborationProf. Klas Wiman, Karolinska InstitutetProf. Elsa Flores, Moffitt Cancer CenterProf. Patrick Micke, Uppsala University Prof. Katalin Dobra, Karolinska InstituteDr. Andrey Alexeyenko, EviStatDr. Pan Pantziarka, Anticancer FundDr. Gauthier Bouche, Anticancer Fund