Monday, April 22, 2013

PROFILES IN RESEARCH EXCELLENCE 4: Dr. Ilona Kryczek


Linda as a new Physical Therapist
 
They were lucky to have her.
 
Dr. Ilena Kryczek is an Assistant Professor with the University of Michigan medical school.  She received a Pilot Study grant from the Marsha Rivkin Center in 2008.  She works in the extraordinarily active cancer research lab of Weiping Zou, who is well known and highly regarded in the cancer research community.    As part of that team Dr. Kryczek has been a co-author of over 50 publications since 2004; for four of these she acknowledges the support of MRC.  Her principal area of interest seems to involve the study of gene Th17, which codes for a molecule called Il-17+.  This seems to be a kind of leucocyte, called a T helper cell, that is involved in the autoimmune reaction   Apparently there is good reason to suppose that, if properly assisted, teased  and stimulated, Th17 can mount an immune response to cancer.  Let it be true! 
Dr Kryczek was born and educated in Poland and practiced there before transferring her efforts to the United States.  As the result of her work, partially supported by MRC, she has recently been promoted within the University of Michigan faculty.  Despite her productive and no doubt time consuming activities in science, Dr. Kryczek has found time to raise a family – including at least one young boy, if Google Illustrations can be trusted.
Finally, a person in a position to know says that “Ilona Kryczek is one smart cookie.”  I hope I didn’t garble her science too much.  Maybe she can write a Comment and set me straight.


1 comment:

  1. Wow, creeping senility! I just realized that Dr. Kryczek has received a SECOND MRC grant. I presume that this second avenue of research is a continuation of her earlier work, but I don't know enough biology to be sure. She is studying something called "human myeloid suppressor cells." In the cancer world they seem to be important, or at least Dr Kryczek thinks so. Maybe they can be induced to "suppress" cancer. I sure hope someone explains this to me, in words of one syllable.

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