Group leader
Leśnikowski Zbigniew Jan
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE: CHEMISTRY,
SPECIALTY: CHEMISTRY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS.
LABORATORY OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
Scientific degrees and titles: 2004- prof. of Chemical Sciences, Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) in Łódź; 1991- D.Sc. in Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Technology in Łódź; 1981 - PhD in Chemical Sciences, Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies PAS in Łódź; 1973- MSc, Eng. in Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology in Łódź.
Job positions related to scientific activity: 1997 - present, Institute of Medical Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) in Łódź (former Centre of Medical Biology PAS, former Centre of Medical Biology and Microbiology PAS), professor, (1997-2002, associate professor). 1997-2019, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Biological Chemistry; 2019-present, head of the Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry; 2009-2012, director of the Institute of Medical Biology PAS; 2004-2008, acting deputy director of the Centre of Medical Biology (formerly: Centre of Microbiology and Virology) PAS; 2002-2003, acting director of the Centre of Microbiology and Virology PAS; 1992-1996 researcher at Emory University, and Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 1974-1994, Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies PAS, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry: 1992-1994 assistant professor, 1983-1992 lecturer, 1976-1983 senior assistant, 1975-1976 assistant, 1974-1975 intern engineer.
Research internships: 2017 - Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan; 2013 - A.N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds (INEOS) RAS, Moscow, Russia; 2012 - Gakushuin University Faculty of Science, Tokyo, Japan; 2001 - Tohoku University, Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Sciences, Sendai, Japan; 2000/2001 - Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Laboratory of Nucleic Acids Therapeutics, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; 1992-1996 - Emory University, Department of Pediatrics, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Fulbright Foundation scholarship holder; 1990 - European Laboratory of Molecular Biology (EMBL), Haidelberg, Germany; 1987 - Max-Planck Institut für Experimentelle Medizin, Goettingen, Germany; 1981-1983 - University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; 1976 - Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry CAS, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Membership in institutions, corporations and scientific organizations: 1981- present, Polish Chemical Society (2003-2010, member of the Board of the Łódź PTCh Branch), Societas Scientiarum Lodziensis, 2007-present.
Research: Synthesis, studies of the physicochemical and biological properties of modified nucleosides, nucleotides and DNA/RNA-oligonucleotides containing boron clusters and their complexes with metals, the relationship between the structure and physicochemical and biological properties of modified DNA/RNA-oligonucleotides and their components, modified nucleic acids as new materials for molecular technologies, biotherapeutics, nanomaterials and molecular probes Nucleoside derivatives with antiviral, antitumor and purinergic receptor modulating activity. Boron carriers for boron neutron capture therapy of tumors (BNCT).
Main scientific achievements: development of a new type of nucleic acid analogs modified with boron clusters and their complexes with metals; development of methods for the synthesis of conjugates of purine nucleosides and boron clusters; application of boron clusters, carboranes and metallocarboranes as redox markers for multipotential labeling and electrochemical detection of nucleosides and nucleic acids; development of new type of boron carriers for BNCT; development of the first stereospecific method for the synthesis of phosphorothioate and methanophosphonate analogs of DNA/RNA-oligonucleotides by transesterification method.
Address:
Institute of Medical Biology PAS,
Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry
Lodowa
106, 93-232 Lodz,
tel.: (0)48
42 209 45 33,
fax: (0)48
42-272 36 30
e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
