The Foundation for Polish Science has just announced the winners of the First Team programme, the aim of which is to provide financial aid for research team led by young PhDs. The subject matter of the research has to have a high scientific or economic significance. Dr Sebastian Glatt, a researcher from the Jagiellonian University's Małopolska Centre for Biotechnology, received nearly two million PLN for his project, entitled "tRNA Modifications in Human Diseases".
Thanks to the First Team programme, young PhDs from the entire world can receive funds to establish their first research team in Poland. Initially, 118 projects have been submitted. Ten of them were selected and received a grand total of 18.5 million PLN. The funds have been acquired within the framework of the Smart Growth Operational Programme 2014–2020. The projects will be realised in cooperation with 16 international partners.
The money granted by the Foundation of Polish Science will allow for funding over 20 research posts and nearly 30 scholarships for young scientists. The funds will be distributed during the course of three years. The award-winning projects have been selected via a three-step assessment process, performed by foreign reviewers as well as experts assembled into two panels: interdisciplinary and scientific-economic.
Dr Glatt's research is devoted to understanding the molecular details of specific tRNA modification reactions leading to the addition of small chemical groups. These subtle changes have strong influence on the correct production of properly folded and active enzymes. In detail, the research team's aim is to uncover the structure, organisation and regulation of molecular machineries that conduct these modification reactions and characterise their activity. Strikingly, patients suffering from certain types of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases often carry mutations in the proteins that are components of these complexes. Therefore, it is of prime scientific and clinical importance to study these evolutionary highly conserved mechanisms. Their work will not only clarify their role in normal healthy cells, but is also necessary to understand their contribution during the onset of various diseases.
The results of this project will provide deep insights into cellular mechanisms that help us and the cells of our body to properly respond and adapt to environmental and metabolomic changes or stress. Our current view is that the mechanisms under investigation protect ourselves and our cells, in particular our neurons, from several serious illnesses. Dr Glatt's research will unravel novel therapeutic targets and intervention strategies for cancer and rare neurodegenerative diseases. Using a combination of different molecular biology and cell biology methods, the team will develop and establish techniques that allow a systematic screening to identify novel lead compounds and drug candidates.
The Foundation for Polish Science was established 1991. It is a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit institution which pursues the mission of supporting science. It is the largest source of science funding in Poland outside of the state budget. The Foundation realises its statutory purposes by supporting distinguished scholars and research teams in all fields of inquiry, modernizing research facilities, and assisting innovative ventures and commercialisation of scientific discoveries and inventions.
