Prof. Ewa Zuba-Surma from the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University (JU FBBB) was awarded with the prestigious Kościuszko Foundation fellowship, which enables scientists, experts and artists to carry out postdoctoral research in the USA. The nomination was presented to her by the US Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski and the Kościuszko Foundation President and Executive Director Marek Skulimowski.
As part of the fellowship, Prof. Zuba-Surma from the JU FBBB Department of Cell Biology will go to the University of Nevada in order to conduct research on the pre-regenerative role of extracellular vesicles – EVs, secreted by human stem cells obtained from various sources. For over a dozen years, the JU scientist has been studying the biological properties of stem cells and their derivatives (EVs) at the Jagiellonian University, also investigating their application in the regeneration of the cardiac muscle and other damaged tissues. After returning from a postdoctoral internship in the USA she established her own research team thanks to the Team programme grant from the Foundation for Polish Science. Since 2012 the group has focused on research into the role of EVs originating from stem cells in tissue repair.
Prof. Zuba-Surma has pioneered research into the use of EVs as new generation drugs and tools of tissue repair. Together with her team she published one of the world’s first articles on the newly discovered role of iPSC cells in regeneration, as a source of pro-regenerative extracellular vesicles with paracrine properties. For the results of her research she was awarded with a number of prestigious awards including the JU Rector’s Award and the Best Manuscript Award 2018 for a paper published in Circulation Research. She is also the co-founder and president of the Polish Society for Extracellular Vesicles.
Prof. Ewa Zuba-Surma conducts her research at the Jagiellonian University in collaboration with research centres both in Poland and abroad, including the USA, Germany and France, thanks to grants from such sources as the Foundation for Polish Science, the National Centre for Research and Development and the National Science Centre. She also carries out translational research in regenerative medicine in collaboration with industrial partners. She is a designer of advanced therapeutic products based on stem cells, including MesoCellAOrtho, whose clinical trials as part of BioMiStem-CT clinical study have been sponsored by the Jagiellonian University.
