Skip to main content

Executive Board

Prof. Maciej Żylicz

President of the Board

Professor Maciej Zylicz was born in 1953 in Gdansk. He studied experimental physics and biology at the University of Gdansk. In 1980 he completed his PhD in biochemistry, in 1986 he was awarded his habilitation degree in molecular biology, and in 1992 he received the title of Professor. In the years between 1980 and 1999 he worked at the University of Gdansk, where he was the head of the Department of Molecular Biology (1991-1999) and vice-rector for science (1990-1993). From 1982 to 1984 he was a postdoctoral fellow at University of Utah and Stanford University. In 1993 and 1994 he was a visiting professor at the Institute of Oncology of the University of Utah, School of Medicine. In 1999-2018 he worked at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (1999-2016, head of the Molecular Biology Department). In 2005 he was elected President (Executive Director) of the Foundation for Polish Science (2005-present). The laboratory lead by Maciej Zylicz (since 2000, a joint laboratory, coheaded with his wife, prof. Alicja Zylicz) was among the first to show that heat shock proteins possesses molecular chaperone activity. At the onset of his postdoctoral career Maciej pioneered the methodology and isolated the first heat shock proteins and described their biochemical and biophysical properties. Afterwards Maciej's group elucidated the molecular mechanism of action of heat shock proteins in the initiation of DNA replication, transcription and proteolysis.

They also presented inceptive and introductory mechanistic evidence that heat shock proteins act as molecular chaperones by protecting other proteins from aggregation and dissociate already existing protein aggregates. Moreover, Maciej?s group was one of the first to describe that elements of the proteolytic machinery possess chaperone activity. Recently, Maciej?s and Alicja?s laboratory discovered that molecular chaperones are required for the transcriptional activity of wild-type p53 tumour suppressor protein and that it's chief negative regulator the MDM2 oncoprotein possesses intrinsic chaperone-like activity. Moreover, they were among the first to present evidence that heat shock proteins are also directly involved in gaining new oncogenic functions of mutated p53 tumour suppressor, leading to tumour development, metastasis and acquisition of chemoresistance of breast cancer patients. Recently, they showed that the expression profile of heat shock genes creates a prognostic signature which can be used to predict the clinical outcome of breast cancer. Professor Zylicz is a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, member of the German National Academy of Sciences - Leopoldina, Academia Europae and the European Cancer Research Academy, and corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), and was a member of its Council in 2003-2007. In 2008-2010 he chaired the Molecular and Structural Biology and Biochemistry Panel (LS1) of the European Research Council. He also served as the Polish delegate to the European Molecular Biology Conference (2000-2004) and the European Science Foundation (2003-2005). He was a member of the ERC Identification Committee (2010-2013). He was awarded the title of honorary doctorate from several Universities: University of Wroclaw (2007), University of Gdansk (2011) and Jagiellonian University (2013). He acted as science advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland (2010-2015). Since 2012 he has been a member of Max Planck Senate and since 2020 a member of the Trustee Committee of the Körber European Science Prize.

 CV (more extensive CV with list of publications)

E-mail:
maciej.zylicz@fnp.org.pl
Phone:
+48 22 845 95 01

PhD Marta Łazarowicz-Kowalik

Deputy President of the Board

Graduate of the Faculty of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw. Also there, she received her doctoral degree in 2016 from the Faculty of Sociology. Her research interests are the sociology of science and the determinants of scientific success and academic career. She has worked with the Foundation for Polish Science since 2007, from the beginning focused on evaluation and programme analysis, especially career development of the Foundation’s beneficiaries, equal opportunities, along with evaluation mechanisms and criteria of scientific projects. Since 2012, she has been responsible for the implementation of “The European Charter for Researchers” and “The Code of Conduct for Recruitment.” Moreover, she serves as an expert for the European Commission in assessing the progress of other institutions in this regard. She is involved in international networks, including Science Europe, Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, and Philea Research Forum. Her previous work experience was in the non-governmental sector. 

Among other places, she worked at the PZU Foundation (2004–2007), the Ashoka: Innovators for the Public (2000–2002), and the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland (2000–2003). Between 2003 and 2004, she served as Secretary of the III Sektor (3rd Sector) editorial board, a quarterly dedicated to building scientific background for NGOs and presenting knowledge on the development of civil society in Poland and around the world. Before joining the NGO community, she worked as a journalist in the economic press: Życie Gospodarcze, Gazeta Bankowa, Businessman Magazine. She has been appointed Deputy President of the FNP Board as of October 1, 2023.

E-mail:
marta.lazarowicz@fnp.org.pl
Phone:
+48 22 845 95 07 604 125 048

PhD Tomasz Perkowski

Deputy President of the Board

Born on 9 May 1969 in Warsaw. He graduated from the Faculty of Marine Fisheries and Food Technology at what is now the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin in 1993. He obtained his doctoral degree cum laude in 1997 at his home university. He has also completed postgraduate studies in Environmental Science and Policy at the Central European University in Budapest and a Master of Business Administration course at Szczecin University. He was a Junior Fellow of the Regional Environmental Centre in Budapest (1994), the German Marshall Fund (1995) and the Open Society Foundation (1998). In 1997 he received a young scientist medal from the Szczecin Scientific Society. During his studies his various duties included being a member of the board of Coalition Clean Baltic, an international nongovernmental organization focused on protecting the Baltic Sea, and a member of the National Selection Committee of the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme. 

In January 1999 he was appointed director of the Social Communication Department of the West Pomeranian Regional Health Fund. From March to December 2000 he was employed at the Szczecin Municipal Board Press Office. He was a member of the National Environmental Protection Fund?s Supervisory Board in 2001. He joined the Foundation for Polish Science in December 2000 as its director for development. Following a decision of the Foundation Council, he was appointed vice-president of the Foundation Board on 1 December 2001.  

E-mail:
tomasz.perkowski@fnp.org.pl
Phone:
+48 22 845 95 01

Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć

Expert/Board Advisor, President-elect of the Board

He graduated in 2003 with a degree in molecular biology from Jagiellonian University. He received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2007 and his postdoctoral degree from the University of Lodz in 2013. As of 2019, he is a professor of biological sciences. He also has a degree in management (IPMA project manager; Master of Business Administration MBA, Cracow University of Economics).  Prof. Pyrć is the creator and head of the Virology laboratory at the Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University (since 2018) and the Virogenetics research group. He organized a research team and new laboratories in Krakow from scratch, first in BSL2 and then – the first BSL3+ research laboratory in Poland.  Prof. Pyrć is an academic teacher and mentor to young scientists. He has promoted dozens of PhDs, masters, and bachelors. Prof. Pyrć and his team research virus-host interactions.

The scope of research is constantly being expanded and modified, in response to emerging threats and technological developments. Prof. Pyrć’s team specializes in viruses that pose a threat in the twenty-first century, i.e., coronaviruses, flaviviruses, alphaviruses, and influenza viruses. To better understand the processes in the human body, Prof. Pyrć and his team created a unique research workshop based on three-dimensional tissue cultures and the lab is currently working on reproducing the complex ecosystem of the human body. Thanks to the results of research by Prof. Pyrć, it has been possible to learn the course of the infection process for many human and animal viruses, which has led to the creation of new substances with therapeutic effects. 

Prof. Pyrć is the author of over 140 publications in, among others, Nature Medicine, Science Translational Medicine, PNAS, PloS Pathogens, Journal of Virology, and Science Signalling, which scholars have been cited over 7000 times in the world literature (h=41; WoS). Moreover, he is a reviewer and expert at science funding institutions in Poland and abroad (Horizon2020, ERC, FNP, NCN, and others). He holds advisory positions at the level of the European Commission and the Ministry of Health. He has been involved in advisory bodies of local governments, the Ministry of Science, the Prime Minister, and the President of Poland. 

He managed numerous research grants, including those under Horizon2020, IMI2, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, the National Science Center, the Foundation for Polish Science, the National Center for Research and Development, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, as well as those funded by commercial entities. From 2009 to 2016, he was the Scientific Coordinator of the Molecular Biotechnology for Health program at Jagiellonian University. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Council of the Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology. In 2020, he was appointed to the advisory team of the Minister of Science and Higher Education ‘for activities related to the prevention, counteraction and eradication of COVID-19.’ He is deputy chairman of the advisory team on COVID-19 to the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a member of the program board of the Science Against Pandemic initiative. Member of the Medical Council to the Prime Minister. Expert of the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System on the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 therapy. He is currently a member of the presidium of a committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences (infectious diseases, health problems associated with climate change). He is a member of the American Society for Virology (ASV), European Society for Virology (EuSV), Association of POLITYKA Scholars, Polish Society of Virology, and Polish Society of Cell Biology. Laureate of Foundation programs: START (2008) and POWROTY/HOMING (2008). Winner of numerous awards and honors, including: the POLITYKA weekly scholarship (2008), the European Society for Virology Award (2010), the Prize of the Minister of Science (2020), the title of the Man of the Year of Gazeta Krakowska (2021), the Nicolaus Copernicus Award of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2021), the City of Krakow Award (2021), the Saint Christopher Medal awarded by the Museum of the City of Krakow (2023), the Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Invention awarded by CITTRU (2023). He has topped the list of the most influential people in Polish medicine of Pulse of Medicine since 2021.

Prof. Pyrć was appointed to the position of President of the FNP’s Executive Board by the Foundation’s Council, effective September 1, 2025.

E-mail:
pyrc@fnp.org.pl
Phone:
693 340 642
'* By clicking "Subscribe," I consent to the processing of my personal data in accordance with the Information Clause.'