Justyna Zmorzyńska
Biographical sketch:
Justyna Zmorzyńska is a developmental neurobiologist and a head of The Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology at the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines (IMol) in Warsaw, Poland. She leads a group that focuses on neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. Her research explores how early environmental factors, such as maternal infections during pregnancy, affect brain development and connectivity. A key aspect of her work involves investigating the role of the mTORC1 pathway in brain development and its connection to neuropsychiatric disorders. She uses zebrafish models in her research to study these developmental processes, which allows for insights into how disruptions in brain connectivity She graduated from University of Warsaw with an MSc degree in Molecular Biology performing her Master project in the Department of Medical Genetics at the Institute of Mother and Child (Warsaw, PL). She did her PhD projects in the Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen in Netherlands. She was awarded the Jan Kornelius de Cock stichting, grants for PhD students, three years in a row (2011-2013). She was a post-doctoral fellow and then senior researcher in the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (PL). She did internships in in prof. Didier Stainier lab (Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany) and in Prof. William Harris lab (Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Cambridge, UK). She is also a recipient of prestigious grants, including the NCN SONATA BIS grant, which supports her research into the effects of maternal infection on brain development.
